The scorching summer seems to have driven everything, including the Lok Sabha poll campaign, to a standstill in Gaya — the place famous across the globe for the Unesco world heritage Mahabodhi Temple, and the Vishnupad Temple.
The Mahabodhi Temple is considered a must-visit for every Buddhist, while the Vishnupad Temple is where Hindus are supposed to pray for the salvation of their ancestors. The hustle and bustle of devotees, tourists and wayfarers is now missing on the streets.The verve normally associated with elections is also absent as people choose to remain in the shades to avoid theblazing sun.
Altogether 14 candidates are in the fray for the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, which isreserved for the Scheduled Castes. There are 18.03 lakh voters in the constituency.
Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) founder and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, 78, is the NDA candidate for the seat, while RJD leader and former minister Kumar Sarvjeet, 48, is the Mahagathbandhan or the INDIA candidate. Both arefrontrunners.
A common grouse of the voters here has been that nothing has been done to promote pilgrimage and tourism either at the Mahabodhi Temple or at the Vishnupad Temple. They argue that these temples should receive similar infrastructural development as the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi or the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain, the Jagannath Temple in Puri, and other such places.
“These two temples have been attracting people for hundreds of years, but stand neglected when compared to the recent developments at religious places in other states. Who is responsible for this? We don’t find the mention of the temples in the election manifesto of any of the bigger parties,” said Suresh Kumar, who works in a private company.
Manjhi raised the issue of the construction of tourism corridors around the two temples during Narendra Modi’s rally earlier this week. However, the Prime Minister did not give any assurance in his speech.
On the other hand, Sarvjeet could not say much about this demand because he was the tourism minister for the 17-month government of the Mahagathbandhan that fell in January. He is sitting MLA from Bodh Gaya.
Gaya is also famous for “tilkut” — a sweet made from sesame seeds combined with sugar or jaggery.
“Although tilkut is a delicacy of winter, there is some demand for it around the year, especially from visitors or those travelling to other places. So we always manufacture a little bit. Otherwise, we do not have proper access to markets. Neither the state government nor the central government has ever thought about us. The process for GI (Geographical Indication) tag is also delayed by several years,” tilkut manufacturer and seller association president Lalji Prasad told The Telegraph.
Prasad said that the district administration wanted to provide machines to shore up production, but the tilkut makers did not take them because increasing production would serve no purpose without access to markets.He also pointed to the lack of quality sesame in Bihar, which prompted them to procure it from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Tilkut manufacturing is a cottage industry in Gaya with hundreds of families engaged in it. When thedemand dwindles in summer, they take up manufacturing other sweets such as “anarsa” (a sweet made of rice flour, condensed milk, sugar and sesame).
“Although no government has done anything worthwhile for us, we will vote for the party that we feel cando something. Aasha par hi zindagi tiki hai (Our lives depend on hopes),” Prasad added.
There is also a baggage of the past that is weighing heavy on the voters. Several of them recounted the loot,extortion, kidnapping, the culture of mandatory protection money, land and house grabbing, and atrocities on the weaker sections of the society prevalent till some years ago.
Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada and Jamui vote today