February 23, 1998

Kalpnath Rai
Samata Party

Ghosi  Uttar Pradesh
Electorate: 12 lakh
Main Rival: Ajmal Noorani (SP)

Don't be fooled by the high pitched voice, the plump, somewhat ridiculous, figure. In Ghosi the 57-year-old Kalpnath Rai is the reigning deity. In 1991, he was the rare Congressman who survived the mandal-mandir upheavals that uprooted the party in Uttar Pradesh; in 1996, imprisoned under TADA, he won as an Independent from jail; this time he's with the Samata Party but the deification continues. The man matters, not his party.

This is worship with reason. Rai actually delivers. Roads, power, telephone exchanges -- Ghosi has it all. So Rai runs a simple campaign -- no fleet of cars, no loudspeakers, just one vehicle and a stop and a promise (a tubewell, a road) at every village. From a powerful landed Bhumihar family, he has always drawn support from all social segments. This time, as a Samata-bjp candidate, he risks alienating the Muslim community. To combat this, he has printed some posters in Urdu and keeps saying: "Development knows no religion." Meanwhile Rai is not averse to some theatre. Voice quivering with emotion, he makes promises saying, "Jis maa ka doodh piya hai uski kasam khata hoon (I swear on my mother's milk)." Later he delivers a punchline borrowed from Laloo Yadav: "Tumre gaon ki sadakwa Hema malini ke galwa jaise chikna (Your roads will be as smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks)." Voting for him, he claims, "is voting for a member of A.B. Vajpayee's cabinet". Presumably, the BJP has been told in advance.

-- Saba Naqvi Bhaumik

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