Has PM chosen Jayapur for its skewed caste ratio, RSS links ask Congress

Siddhartha Mishra | The News Minute | November 7, 2014 | 5:47 pm ISTThe PM Narendra Modi honed in on the village of Jayapur in his constituency of Varanasi today, adopting the village as part of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. The Prime Minister condemned female foeticide, while acknowledging the contribution of the textile industry in the state. The move to “adopt” the village, though, has not gone down well with the opposition, who are questioning the motives behind the selection of the village.Priyanka Chaturvedi, spokesperson for the Congress, said, “With 6,38,000 villages that are in the country, don't they all deserve the Prime Minister's attention? Why just one? Maybe because the RSS instructed him to do so or because of its skewed caste ratio...”The demographics of the village do make for interesting reading with a mix of Brahmins, Musahar, Yadavs, Bania, Kumhar and Dalits making up the rest of the numbers, while the Patels and the Bhumihars make up the majority of this 4200 strong number. “Incidentally”, as reported by the Indian Express, an RSS functionary claimed that the village does not have a Muslim family, despite UP having an 18.5% Muslim population, the fourth-highest in the country.What also catches the eye about this village, located in the Raja Talaab tehsil and about 25km from Varanasi, is its links with the RSS. The Sangh is never far away from a Modi discussion and this village had been adopted by the RSS way back in 2002 as part of their “ideal village scheme”. Also, the village, encircled by four Patel dominated villages is located in the Shivpuri block which has been the traditional bastion of the Apna Dal, who had aligned with the BJP in the LS polls. The party’s founder, Late Sonelal Patel, had a stronghold in the area. And with the BJP spreading its wings in the region, his wife and daughter, who’ve been quibbling over the family legacy, have a lot to think about.After demographics and politics, history and symbolism have a crucial role to play here too. As far back as in the 17th century, the villagers here had forced the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s forces to beat a hasty retreat after they tried to destroy the “Kale Hanuman ka Temple”, a unique shrine in the area. And while the people of Jayapur rejoice as fate abruptly smiled on them, those from Kakrahia, 20kms from Varanasi, have had their dreams quashed. Noted for producing wrestlers of national acclaim, the hamlet was overjoyed when informed last month that their village was the one chosen for the scheme. They found out later, to their dismay, that Jayapur had been “selected” instead. Yes, conjecture can be thrown around but these so called “arguments” are hard to overlook. But let’s not take anything away from the people of Jayapur.After all, when the Prime Minister of the country flies in and asks you to “adopt him”, you would, wouldn’t you?