The Other Mrs Gandhi

Traditionally, a quiet and dormant constituency, situated in one remotecorner of North-Western Uttar Pradesh, bordering the Himalayan state ofUttarakhand, Pilibhit was rarely in the news. Even the presence of the otherGandhi -- Maneka -- for five consecutive terms,  failed to give Pilibhitany prominence or a profile anywhere close to that of Rae Bareli and Amethi.

And the reasons were not far to seek. Pilibhit never witnessed even afraction of the development that was more than visible in the constituencies ofManeka's estranged kins -- Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. In fact, other thandistribution of her MPLAD fund, Maneka, has hardly anything to boast of . Whatwas worse that far from building the constituency, whatever little she hadcontributed in the name of development of this place was long dead andforgotten.

Significantly, the demands raised by the locals were never too tall for apersonality like Maneka to fulfil. Then what kept her away from using her ownclout with the erstwhile BJP government or even her tenure as a powerful cabinetminister for doing some good to the constituency that had sent her to thenational parliament five times? Perhaps her general indifference and apathy. Itwas also the docility of the local electorate .

Maneka could afford to remain complacent because she was aware of her solidbase vote of about one lakh Sikhs to which an addition of the traditional BJPvote always kept her in a formidable position.

No wonder, therefore, she could afford to overlook the popular demand forensuring conversion of the existing local narrow-gauge railway line into broad gauge."Every successive election she assured us that the conversion task was tobe undertaken soon, but what came as an eye opener this time was a categoricalstatement issued by the Railway Board clearly indicating that Maneka had made noconcrete effort in that direction", observed Keshav Agarwal a prominentPilibhit journalist, who had once worked as her personal secretary.

Agarwal was of the view, "there was enough reason to believe thatdevelopment of the constituency was not Maneka Gandhi's cup of tea; she prefersissues which have the potential to give her instant publicity."

In sharp contrast to the Gandhis of Rae Bareli and Amethi, this Gandhi fromPilibhit does not have a single industry to her credit . "A number of ricemills have definitely come up in and around Pilibhit over the years, but none ofthese could be attributed to Maneka" , observed Anil Bisht , an unemployedgraduate , who wonders why even during her ministerial days, Maneka did not careto push some employment generating industry here.

Quipped Ganga Ram, a young farm labourer, "Maneka Gandhi remains moreconcerned about animals than she is about human beings." He went on tonarrate an incident of 2002 when as Union Minister for Social Justice, Manekameted out the biggest injustice to the priest of a Hanuman temple along thePuranpur road. Maneka ordered local officials in Pilibhit to pull down thetemple simply because a stray monkey entrusted to the temple priest's custody byher, escaped into the wilderness. Rajesh Giri, the temple priest has not forgottenthe trauma that he had to go through on that account . "Had it not been forviolent reaction to the demolition provoking hundreds of villagers to stage aroad-block , followed by a court petition, the temple would not have been thereand I would have been behind bars" Giri recalls .

"And it was thanks to our then Puranpur MLA V.M.Singh , who promptlymoved the High Court against Maneka's dictatoriial and whimsical act",pointed out Giri, while adding, "finally the entire temple was restored onthe direction of the High Court".  Singh, who is in the main race thistime as Congress nominee this time is also widely praised for his commitment anddedication to the cause of local people, who hail him as a "messiah of thefarmer and the poor."

Other than a few internal roads and lanes in the town, Maneka's visible"contributions" to her constituency were a 'Disabled rehabilitationcentre' and a Cattle Protection Home entrusted to the local Society forPrevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Interestingly, the Disabled Centre inthe heart of town appears to be in an utter state of decay with doors locked,cobwebs plastered on the dirty walls and rusted and dilapidated wheel chairs orartificial limbs littered all over the place. The state of the cattle home onthe city outskirts was no better and clearly, this one too existed only in name.

The name of Maneka Gandhi is boldly engraved on the walls of the twoinstitutions . But when was last that she visited these places? Not after sheinaugurated them in the late nineties.

According to Pilibhit chief development officer Surendra Singh, "allthat this district has in the name of industry were sugar mills - three in hecooperative sector and two private mills, one of which was set up by HindustanBajaj during the last regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav."

Asked why Maneka never thought about developing her constituency which wasagriculturally very rich and therefore had the potential for a big boost, KeshavAgarwal claimed that he had himself asked her the same question . "Dodangle a bottle of cool water before a thirsty man, but give him only a fewdrops at a time", was stated to be Maneka's instant reply . "And thatsums up her entire attitude", he added.

Maneka's lip service did pay rich dividends for five successive terms .Apparently, she could now smell that her old trick may not work yet again , soshe decided to push her son Varun into the fray while choosing to herself shiftto the adjoining Aonla constituency. She is also understood to have chalked outthe political path for Varun, who is understood to have carried out everythingas per the orchestrated plan. However, whether that hard-line Hindutva line,laced with rabid anti-Muslim venom would bear fruit by keeping his mother's"contribution" towards "development" under wraps, only timewould tell.

Education Qualification: I.S.C. 
Constituency: Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh )
Criminal Charges: Nil
Party : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 
Performance in Lok Sabha (from 10th to 12th Session -- 23/2/2007 to7/12/2007)
Attendance in 2007: 49/66
No. of Unstarred* Questions raised: 13
No. of times she participated in the Lok Sabha in proceedings (excludingQuestions): 5
*Starred Question is where an MP desires an oral answer in the House andUnstarred  Question is where a written answer is sought.
Project-wise details of sanction of MPLADS funds not available on the Government of India MPLADS website