Rs 500 is all it would take to make the elders of Jheet village here believe that governments can work.

“We trust this (Bhupesh Baghel) government but nothing gets done,” said septuagenarian Chaithram Patel, who has spent more than a decade fighting for the old-age pension of Rs 500 for those below the poverty line. Applications for the pension, funded by both the state and the Centre, are processed through local bodies.

Many applications get stuck over whether the beneficiaries fall below the poverty line — an income category whose definition is not readily available on the state government website. Unsuccessful applicants under this scheme and that for widow pensions told The Telegraph the definition often differed from officer to officer.

Jheet falls under Baghel’s Patan seat on the outskirts of capital Raipur. He is pitted against his nephew and MP Vijay Baghel of the BJP and Amit Jogi — the son of late chief minister Ajit Jogi — of the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi).

Patel’s friend Sevakram Sinha, 78, told The Telegraph: “We have applied again and again. Every time the panchayat gives a new excuse. Now we have a Congress sarpanch and our chief minister is also from our seat, but still there is no sign of our pension.”

Before the Congress, the BJP ruled the state for 15 years.

Gathered at Jheet’s weekly market, Patel, Sinha and their friends, however, expressed appreciation for the procurement price of around Rs. 2600 per quintal they get for paddy.

Both the BJP and the Congress have promised to hike this further and buy even more rice than the state already does. However, the elders admit that the money goes to their children and even a Rs 500 pension for themselves would do a great deal for their financial independence.

Budh Sen Chakradhari of Gujra village drives an electric autorickshaw in Patan town. The vehicle was mostly financed by a state government scheme. The grant for his home under the PM Awas Yojana hasn’t come through, he said, quoting officials who said that funding for it had slowed down after the pandemic.

“The panchayat can’t get me the schemes I am eligible for. They can’t get roads repaired. I attribute this more to their inefficiency than that of any government…. The MSP is for landed farmers. The government must not forget other schemes,” he said.

“We keep seeing the chief minister at events here. I'm only seeing Vijayji here after five years…. I don’t think any government can improve our plight. If they can improve the schools, at least my children will have better lives than mine.”

Fellow auto driver Pappu Rajput chimed in: “I blame the successive governments for the plight of the government hospitals and schools. We are always referred to Raipur when we go to the district hospital. It is the responsibility of the person in power right now to fix things.”

A little over 30km north of Patan live retired couple Sapna and Subroto Mukherjee who have made Raipur their home for 13 years. With a large Bengali population, they feel at home here.

“We have two Kalibaris here and had a very good Durga Puja with Punjabis, Marathis and all other communities participating. It is peaceful and there is no political drama here like in Bengal and that’s why we decided to settle here. All demands can’t be met. But I must say that the government hospitals in Raipur are very good,” Sapna said.

“The government’s focus is only the farmers and the poor. They have no vision for the middle class. But I am very satisfied with the home delivery of services (Mitaan scheme). I got our ration card without any hassle,” Subroto said.

“Generally all government services work well here although there is corruption. But that isn’t an election issue as all parties are like that.”

Baghel has projected himself as a peasant “kaka”. He came to power riding on promises of loan waivers and a higher MSP for rice. The prosperity that has trickled down to the villages has now raised the aspirations there while urban voters feel a bit left out.

Sheikh Irfan works out with his dumbells at the Oxyzone Park in the city’s Civil Lines every morning as his friends — all well-heeled professionals — walk about and chat about life and politics. “All’s well here,” he says.

His friend A. Shukla explains: “We need more industries and jobs. The MSP being high is good but the bonus constantly being raised does not make sense…. I am satisfied with this government but the city has not been developed much because the focus is on the villages.... The BJP focused on the city and lost.”

The Oxyzone friends’ circle is spread out in all seven seats in the capital.

They quizzed this reporter on the work of the AAP government in Delhi but unanimously agreed that Chhattisgarh was a two-horse race. The AAP and its chief ministers — Arvind Kejrwal from Delhi and Bhagwant Mann from Punjab — have extensively campaigned here.

Cabbie Ashish Sahu isn’t as satisfied as the middle-aged gentlemen of the Oxyzone Park. “The government schools are much better here now than when I studied. But we need more. The national highways are better than our state roads. Many say if we give the BJP a chance again, they can create more jobs. Both parties have promised the same things, so there is nothing to lose with either in power,” he said.

Patan and all the seats in Raipur vote on November 17.