Door-to-door campaign by Umesh. File picture

Kharsia (Raigarh), Nov. 18: Umesh Patel was enjoying his IT career, a low-profile life away from political limelight when one dreadful day in May this year, his world turned upside down.

The 32-year-old software engineer had no inkling he would ever join politics. It was understood elder brother Dinesh would step into their father Nand Kumar Patel’s shoes.

On May 25, days after Umesh’s wedding, Maoists attacked a Congress convoy in Bastar. The next morning, his worst fears came true: the rebels had killed his father and brother along with several others. Almost the entire state Congress leadership was wiped out.

Seven months on, a shy and soft-spoken Umesh is finding himself pitch-forked onto the political centre stage, his father’s supporters and confidants rallying around him to ensure he retains the seat that has been an impenetrable Congress stronghold.

Kharsia, in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, had been nursed by his father. “If he were alive, Nand Kumar would have become chief minister,” said Balakram Patel, a close aide of the slain leader.

Nand Kumar, who became a consensus candidate to lead the faction-ridden Chhattisgarh Congress as the state unit chief, had taken on the twin responsibilities of rebuilding the organisation and balancing rival camps.

After his death, the Congress’s natural choice from Kharsia was Umesh. Though he’s new to politics, friends say he’s not naive. After all, they say, he has grown up in a political family.

Now, as he goes door to door canvassing, Umesh’s life is taking yet another turn. He keeps a low profile — no big posters or campaign vehicles. “They are not needed. People will vote for him in big numbers. When I vote for Umesh Patel, I will be actually voting for his father,” said a tea stall owner a day before the second and final phase of polls on Tuesday.

The only big rally so far in the constituency was Rahul Gandhi’s this weekend. “Had he (Nand Kumar) become chief minister, he would have been in that post for a minimum 15 years,” Rahul said.

He then outlined his expectations from Umesh. “I want one thing from the son of Nand Kumar Patel. I want not one but around 500 Nand Kumar Patels. I will not bring them from Delhi, I want them from here. Those who can stand up and kick out the BJP.”

Raigarh is one of the state’s mineral-rich pockets, with several steel and power plants. But it has witnessed a surge in public protests, mainly over diversion of land and water to private firms, in recent years. Hardly surprising, therefore, these companies have their eyes glued to election trends.

Nand Kumar’s supporters say he wasn’t opposed to setting up industries but was against doing so at the expense of farmers’ interests.

None of that, however, is an issue in this election. Not at least in Kharsia.

Every morning, Umesh starts his campaign, walking through the hamlets to seek the villagers’ support. A wave of sympathy is working in his favour, his aides say.

The state Congress leadership concedes, however, that the sympathy factor is not playing out across the state. Nand Kumar had started gaining wider popularity but most others killed in the May attack had no major following beyond their own areas of influence.

Among the slain leaders, Mahendra Karma was popular in south Bastar and Udai Mudaliar in Rajnandgaon. The veteran V.C. Shukla was once popular but he had no influence on voters lately. That is one reason why the massacre did not become an overriding issue.

In Kharsia, Umesh main rival is the BJP’s Jawahar Naik, who too is not seen as a political heavyweight.

That is why, among the four Congress candidates who lost someone in the attack, Umesh is seen as having the best chance. Among the others are Mahendra Karma's widow Devati in Dantewada, Uday Mudaliar’s widow Alka against chief minister Raman Singh in Rajnandgaon.

A senior Congress leader in Raipur said that all, except Umesh, faced a tough fight. One reason why Umesh appears to have an edge is that his father’s aides are mentoring him.

“The Congress has never lost this constituency (Kharsia). Nand Kumar had built a strong organisation in every village. That’s why Rahul Gandhi said he wants 500 Nand Kumars. In a way, Kharsia is a model. Umesh has to take that forward but he has to begin from the grassroots,” said Balakram, the Nand Kumar aide.