The roads are pink from the gulaal that wasn바카라t played long ago. A motorized, rickety cart attached to a scooter with fading colours is parked alongside a bubbling drain. Two eight-year-olds are locked in a fierce battle, while a third is rending the air with a red plastic whistle. A dog, with an onion peel perched on its quarters, looks on.
In Aligarh바카라s Nagla Kalar area, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) worker Santosh Rao, 28, is campaigning for party candidate Ajit Baliyan. 바카라Hum haathi, cycle, nal waale hain (Elephant, cycle and hand pump, these are our symbols),바카라 he says, carrying the flags of BSP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)바카라the three constituents of a gathbandhan in UP ahead of the April-May parliamentary elections. 바카라And don바카라t forget to take the women and elderly with you.바카라
Rao comes from a family of BSP members. An MA in economics from a private college in Aligarh, he is a part-time property dealer, but focuses more on party work. 바카라After this election, I바카라ll turn my attention towards the business,바카라 says Rao in black shades and a blue gamchha around his neck.
A fierce supporter of Mayawati, he says the BSP chief has persistently brought Dalit issues to the fore. 바카라Her politics has brought relief to us. It has even forced other parties to take us seriously,바카라 Rao asserts and accuses the Congress and BJP of harassing Dalits. The Congress did it gradually over the years, he says, whereas, the BJP wants to knock the Dalits down in a single stroke. 바카라If the BJP gets another five years, they바카라ll finish the Constitution. They바카라ve given reservation to the savarnas unconstitutionally,바카라 he argues. 바카라Bit by bit, they바카라ve diluted every provision for the Dalits. It바카라s scary to think what will happen in the future. We won바카라t get any jobs. As it is, we own no wealth or property.바카라 His other gripes: the BJP government has finished small enterprises, failed to provide jobs, told lies, and let loose stray cattle to ruin crops.
A day earlier, a team of 10 visited Aligarh바카라s rural zone to canvass for their candidate. 바카라We were a mix of people from different communities바카라Jatavs, Jats, Muslims, Yadavs,바카라 he says. In a primarily Muslim area the team visited, the voters were advised to not let a split happen. 바카라We didn바카라t go to the Brahmin-Bania localities. They are blind supporters of the BJP.바카라
Rao doesn바카라t associate himself with Hinduism. 바카라We aren바카라t allowed in temples. We aren바카라t considered Hindus. Baba Saheb (Ambedkar) has given us a faith, Buddhism. I intend to convert to Buddhism,바카라 he says. He is awaiting a law that protects Dalit reservation benefits even when one adopts Buddhism. Behenji will bring that law, he hopes.