APJ Abdul Kalam dreamt of Paliganj as the hub of a second green revolution, but his dream died with the former President. Chief minister Nitish Kumar's government's ambitious agricultural roadmap (2012-22) aims at ushering in a "rainbow revolution", but in this Assembly constituency in Patna district, such talk rings hollow.

Kalam visited Paliganj in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2011 to guide the farmers as part of a project by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, which comes under the Union ministry of science and technology. He mentored farmers on methods to increase the agricultural yield and cultivable area through scientific farming with emphasis on cash crops such as Japanese mint, lemongrass, java citronella and basil in the off-season.

Today, about 55 families are cultivating cash crops in the off-season over an area of around 100 acres in Paliganj.

"Kalam sahab taught us very good things, which gave us some benefits as well, but the condition of farmers here is still bad because of the lack of support from the government and elected representatives," said Binay Singh, a farmer at Chandaus village.

"A farmer who has even 50 bigha (about 25 acres) of land is unable to send his children to school."

Binay's is not a lone voice. Farmers across Paliganj echo tales of government neglect and corruption.

"I sold rice at the rate of Rs 1,000 a quintal to a trader at a local vegetable market in March this year," said Om Narayan Singh, another farmer from Chandaus. "However, the official rate at which PACS (Primary Agriculture Credit Society) are supposed to procure rice directly from farmers is

Rs 1,650 a quintal. I had to sell rice in the open market at less than the stipulated price because the local PACS does not procure it from us; its officials are involved in corrupt practices."

Another complaint rampant among the farmers in Paliganj is about the benefits of government schemes not reaching them.

"It is true that a number of government schemes, including diesel subsidy in case of deficient monsoon rainfall and availability of hybrid seeds, among others is not reaching the farmers," said Balmiki Sharma, secretary of the Paliganj farmer distributor committee. "Red tape and corrupt practices are responsible for such a situation."

However, such issues don't seem to be the key to influencing Paliganj's vote. Despite developmental issues looming large in this rural constituency, many parts of which are also affected by the Naxalite movement, caste dynamics remain the decisive factor.

Although 16 candidates are in the fray, all eyes are on the fight between Ram Janam Sharma of the BJP and Jai Vardhan "Bachcha" Yadav of the RJD.

Sharma is a former MLA from the neighbouring Bikram constituency and an old warhorse of the BJP. Bachcha is aiming at reviving the legacy of his grandfather Ramlakhan Singh Yadav, who was MLA from Paliganj for three consecutive terms from 1980 to 1995.

Paliganj is mostly dominated by Yadavs (who number around 70,000), followed by Bhumihars (around 45,000), Kushwaha (30,000), Dalit and Mahadalit (20,000 each), Manjhi and Paswan (12,000 each), Brahmins (10,000), Kurmi (9,000) and Rajputs (7,000). Muslims (40,000) also form a sizable chunk of the population.

Vishnu Ranjan Yadav, who cultivates cash crops, claimed that the Grand Alliance has an edge: "Sitting MLA Usha Vidyarthi of the BJP had won the last elections as Independent candidate Dinanath Yadav had cut into around 7,000 Yadav votes of Bachcha Yadav. However, Dinanath is supporting Bachcha Yadav this time, thus he (Bachcha) is sure two win."

Binay Singh differed: "It is not about how many castes are going to vote for a particular candidate, it is the number of voters in each caste that explains the equation. It's a sure-shot win for Ram Janam Sharma here."

• Paliganj votes on October 28