Phoolchand speaks with Congress candidate Rameshwar Oraon in Lohardaga. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Lohardaga, April 21: Imagine voters walking 12 km to exercise their franchise. Well, that is precisely what Chhote Lohra, a Class VIII drop-out and father of two, has been doing.

A temporary resident of “Labour Colony”, Netarhat, Lohra and others from his village walked 12 km to Jobhipat in 1999 to cast their votes. It took two-and-a-half hours to reach the booth. The group carried food cooked at home, rested after they exercised their right to franchise and walked back home by the evening.

This year, he plans to repeat it. Asked if political parties arrange for food or make payments, he looks incredulous. Nobody even comes for campaigning, he grumbles.

Remarkably, he is not complaining. Used to hard work and long walks, villagers here don’t yet see distance as a problem. He, of course, has a photo-identity card and has a vague idea that elections are important.

He has no concept of the Lok Sabha and, while he is aware of the name of the outgoing MP from his constituency, he has no clue about the others in the fray.

He voted for Dukha Bhagat, the BJP candidate, because the villagers decided to vote for him. This year, no party has come for “prachar” and he is still not aware of the collective decision.

Lohra turns out to be extraordinarily charitable, given his circumstances. He has never seen his MP but will not mind voting for him again. His lot has actually got worse, with prices of everything going up; and his village has not changed. Nor is he aware of any development work initiated at the behest of the MP.

Why then will he vote for Bhagat again? Betraying no bitterness, Lohra retorts: “What can the poor man do ? It is a large area.” We wonder if he symbolises the “triumph of democracy” or the flip side marked by ignorance and apathy. But the poll tour turned into an “education” and more surprises were in store.

Phoolchand Oraon, for example, turned out to be very different and far from being the forgiving type. “Dhukha has never shown his face after he got elected; so much so that we have never seen him even on television,” he exclaimed, barely suppressing his fury.

Why television, we quizzed and Oraon, in his early twenties, explained that he has watched other MPs speak in Parliament, disrupt proceedings or raise questions, thanks to live telecast of parliamentary proceedings by Doordarshan. But Bhagat was never seen on TV, see?

The young man confessed he had an even stronger reason to oppose the BJP candidate seeking re-election.

“You see,” he said bitterly “I’ve played in the national football tournament for under-19; but Dukha Bhagat refused to allow my village to take part in a football tournament that he organised; It was a poor tournament with low standards, like the ‘khassi’ tournament (with a goat as the prize) we have in every village. But he wouldn’t allow us to play.”

Notwithstanding committed BJP voters like Lohra, Bhagat appears to have run into a lot of hostility. Across the constituency, one hears complaints that he was never seen in the area after he got elected in 1999. Why, he has visited the village of his own sister only twice in five years, said someone from the crowd at Lohardaga chowk.

On the way to Ghaghra, one is told that Bhagat got five houses, including his, of his village electrified but made no effort to extend the transmission lines to other parts of the village. Farther we moved from Lohardaga town, the criticism got muted but even in Bishunpur, said to be a BJP and RSS stronghold, people spoke of how brazenly the MP had encroached upon community land adjacent to his house.

Congress candidate Rameshwar Oraon, an IPS officer who took voluntary retirement to contest the election, returned to the town around 9.30 pm to inaugurate a campaign office. Wearing a trouser and a shirt, he confessed that he was still not comfortable in the politician’s traditional attire.

He spoke animatedly of the huge response that he received with villagers not letting him leave without partaking food, drinks or prasad. He also confessed that he had never expected such a response though the former additional director- general of police had been preparing to take the plunge into politics for more than a year. Not surprisingly, policemen here confide that Oraon has already won, though polling will take place on April 26.