UP Election 2022: Huge Cash Seizure Is No Issue In Kannauj; People Yearn For Better Civic Amenities, Jobs

Recovery of the mountain of cash in raids at a perfume trader's premises in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj might have triggered political bashing among the rival parties, but the people of 'Itra nagri' consider it a non-issue in the elections and instead seek better civic facilities and more steps for business promotion.

Considered a bastion of  Mulayam Singh Yadav, the BJP is trying to make an inroad here by fielding policeman-turned politician Asim Arun from Kannauj Sadar seat.

In December last year, the seizure of over Rs 177 crore in cash, 25 kg of gold and 250 kg of silver from the residence and factory of a perfume trader Piyush Jain by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) had started a political blame game among the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

Kannauj Sadar assembly segment has not only remained faithful to the SP all through but had even buked 'Modi wave' in the 2017 assembly polls.

The place had not only elected Mulayam Singh Yadav in the 1999 Lok Sabha election but the political careers of Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav had also started from here.

Former Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun, a local, took VRS and plunged into electoral politics to challenge Anil Dohre, a three-time SP MLA, who is in the fray once again.

Though the Kannauj district was formed under Bahujan Samaj Party in 1997, out of Farrukhabad district, Mayawati's party has never won from the seat which has elected the SP candidates all through.

Congress has fielded Vineeta Devi this time and BSP has nominated Samarjit Singh Dohre on the seat reserved for scheduled castes.

It will go to vote in the third phase on February 20.

In the last election, BJP's Banwari Lal Dohre had given a good fight to Anil Dohre, but the SP had won by a slender margin of 2454 votes.

Interestingly, the Kannauj Sadar seat is dominated by Dohre voters (Dalits) and the BSP has also given the ticket to Samarjit Singh Dohre.

Asim Arun also hails from the same caste making it a contest between three candidates of the same caste.

Anil Dohre too has a long political legacy. He is an old socialist. His father Bihari Lal Dohre had also won from this seat and his wife Sunita Dohre has been chairperson of Zila Panchayat.

On a campaign trail in Sengaranpurwa village, Asim Arun told PTI, "Khairpur village of Kannauj is our ancestral village and my father, former DGP Shriram Arun was very much attached to it and used to come here at least once a month."

 Arun senior had opened a school and solved the problem of farmers related to irrigation.

“We have an old relationship with Kannauj and the people here consider me as their son. Then the Yogi Adityanath government has done so much work that this time only BJP will win," Arun claimed.

"On winning the election, a special training centre to get the youth from the area selected in the military and security forces will be opened. Apart from this,  a concrete action plan for potato traders and concrete work to take the perfume industry to new heights will be taken up," he said, unveiling his vision for the constituency.

The SP nominee says, Akhilesh Yadav had started construction work of Perfume Park, potato mandi, cancer hospital, cardiology centre for the treatment of heart patients, trauma centre etc.

Work was also started on some other projects but the present BJP government did not show interest in completing any work because in their view it is a stronghold of the SP, Dohre alleged.

BSP candidate Samarjit Singh Dohre, however, feels that this time the people here have decided to vote for the party to make Mayawati chief minister because the SP has not done any development work in this area.

Congress nominee Vinita Devi says if she wins, she will work for women safety and development.

According to Anuj Mishra,  a prominent businessman and president of Kannauj's Brahmin Sabha, "The recovery of money from Piyush Jain's place is not an election issue here.

"He was not a member of any party, he was just a businessman. This time education, employment, roads and water are big issues. We will vote on these issues. All we want is the development of the region."

Perfume trader Ashu Dubey says, "You talk about the recovery of money from a perfume trader, but this is not an issue. We the people involved in the perfume business want that flower farmer to get proper facilities so that they can grow a good crop of flowers and we can get flowers here at the local level for our perfume business."

Anurag Maurya, another trader selling seeds and agricultural goods, says political parties ignore traders. "Business is getting ruined due to
Corona. No leader is ready to speak on this."

Retired government employee Naeem Khan says the Akhilesh government had built many hospitals etc., for the treatment of people, but trauma and cardiology centres etc., are still incomplete because of which people have to travel 85 km to Kanpur for treatment.

 A city youth, Deepak Kesari, raises the question of employment and stresses it should be the dominant poll issue.