In the last leg of campaigning for the Chhattisgarh assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel once again on the issue of corruption. Bringing the Mahadev app row to the centre stage, the PM said, “A scam of more than Rs 508 crore happened…The CM has to come out clear and tell how much money he and other Congress leaders got.”
In a previous rally, he had said, “30 takka kakka, khule aam satta,” alluding to 30% commission and online betting allegations against the chief minister.
But in Bhupesh Baghel’s constituency, the talking point isn’t corruption. For most voters, the “development of Patan” eclipses the Mahadev app allegations.
A campaign vehicle of the CM blares his poll song, “Bhupesh kakka jit hin, Bhupesh kakka…Hamar kakkat jit hin, hamar kakka (Our Bhupesh uncle will win)”, as it meanders through markets and residential areas of Patan.
The sentiments are echoed by people at a kirana store in Patan market.
“If the allegations (of online betting and bribe) are true, why did you wait till the eve of elections to make the revelations? The probe has been on for more than a year now,” Rajesh, an employee of the store, argues when asked about alleged Mahadev scam mastermind Shubham Soni’s confession. Soni, in a video that has since gone viral, alleged that he paid Rs 508 crore to Bhupesh Baghel in return for the protection of Mahadev app employees.
Two of the customers sitting at the same kirana store chime in. “Till 5 years ago, this road through which you came was a narrow gali. Now you see how many SUV-like vehicles are passing through. The face of Patan has changed since Bhupesh Baghel became CM,” one says.
Baghel has represented Patan since 1993. After Chhattisgarh was created, he has been the MLA of Patan continuously since 2003, except in 2008, when his nephew and now MP from the area, Vijay Baghel, defeated him. This time, Vijay has thrown his hat into the assembly election ring once again.
In Kasahi village of Patan, Vijay addresses a crowd of about 100 people. He makes direct allegations of corruption against the CM but refrains from limiting it to the Mahadev app. When asked if the strategy is because he feels the Mahadev app issue has no resonance on the ground, Vijay tells News18, “The people of my state may be straightforward and simple but they understand how the CM is looting them. The PSC scam took away their opportunities for jobs, sharab ghotala (liquor scam), rice ghotala, gothan (cow shelter and cow dung procurement scam), every scheme has taint of corruption by the CM.”
Manish Dubey, a BJP supporter in the village, declares he will vote for Vijay Baghel but, more than corruption, it is to strengthen the hand of PM Modi. “Inka (Bhupesh Baghel) ka raj aur raha to Chhattisgarh ko Pakistan bana denge,” he says.
At the Patan bus stand, a fight breaks out between a Baghel supporter and a farmer. Ram Sohri declares that no one has helped Patan as much as Bhupesh Baghel. “He has given us roads, waived off farm loans, given a good price for rice…what more do you want?” Sohri asks. Ratan Sahu, a farmer, counters. “How has farm loan waiver helped us, small farmers? It is only to woo the big farmers who in any case are well off,” Sahu says.
Rice procurement price and loan waiver are the bigger issues in this constituency, which is separated by the Kharun river from the capital city of Raipur. The Rural Industrial Park (RIPA), at the entrance of the Patan Vidhan Sabha, is one of the projects Baghel supporters showcase, realising that bread-and-butter issues and Mahadev could ultimately shape the voters’ minds.
Hari, a daily wage labourer, says Mahadev app is a non-issue. “Roz kamane, roz khane walon ko isse kya matlab? Humko rozgar kaun de raha hai, kitne mein roz ka guzara ho raha hai ye mudda hai (People living on daily wages aren’t bothered by such issues. For us, the issues are who is providing us employment and how much we need to make ends meet),” he says, even as Janta Congress Chhattisgarh’s campaign van passes by.
Amit Jogi of (JCC-J) and Amit Kumar Hirvani of the Aam Aadmi Party have tried to make the Patan fight multidimensional. But the conversations on the ground suggest it is a direct contest between “Kakka” Bhupesh Baghel and “Bhatija” Vijay Baghel.