Of bullet, blood and ballot

Darpan Singh
Mohammadabad (Ghazipur), April 28
65-year-old Saleem Ansari, a tea shop owner in Yusufpur area, claims to have seen it all of Poorvanchal politics. But he is apprehensive of violence more than ever before. Don-turned politician Mokhtar Ansari’s brother Shivgatullah is contesting the Mohammadabad seat on SP ticket and is locked in a straight fight with slain BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, Alka Rai. Saleem said, “The elections here might prove bloodier than the previous ones as it a battle of prestige for both sides.”
Most of the people in the constituency HT spoke to termed it as a war of supremacy between Mokhtar and another mafia don of Poorvanchal, Brijesh Singh. A villager of Veerpur said, “The election campaign of Krihnanand, who paid the price for contesting against Mukhtar’s elder brother Afzal, had been funded by Brijesh. Now his men will go to any extent to avenge the killing and ensure Alka’s victory.”
As part of her election campaign, Alka is seeking ‘justice.’ At a public meeting in the constituency, she said, “In the court, I am seeking death sentence to the killers of my husband. I wont settle with anything less than that. Ensure my victory, it will be a tribute to my husband and six of the party workers killed in the shootout.” Alka has publicly said she might be killed by Ansari brothers.
According to police sources, there are dozens of criminal gangs active in the region but all tensions boil down to the Mokhtar-Brijesh fued which started near Saidpur in the early 1980s following a land dispute between two groups, one led by Makhanu Singh and the other by Sahib Singh. A police officer said, “While Mokhtar joined Makhanu Singh, Brijesh sided with Sahib Singh, triggering a bloody war of attrition in the region over contracts worth Rs 100 crore a year.”
Here violence is justified on religious grounds and used to protect political and gang interests. A senior police officer in Ghajipur said, “Several groups, including the real estate lobby, used the recent Mau riots, allegedly perpetrated by the local independent MLA Mokhtar, to settle individual scores.” He also termed the communal violence in Ghazipur, which erupted following the killing of Rai in 2005, as part of a larger strategy to divide voters on communal lines before the elections.
Event though Mokhtar, along with Afzal, is lodged in Ghazipur jail in connection with Rai’s killing, allegations are being levelled that he is trying to influence voters by addressing small gatherings through cell phone. Former BJP MP from Ghazipur Manoj Sinha has lodged a complaint with the election Commission in this connection.
This time round, Saleem would like to be proved wrong!