Jayapur, the village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Varanasi constituency, has developed some anxieties. A new committee formed at the behest of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and which apparently has the support of he Prime Minister’s Office, is threatening to subsume the powers and functions of the village's elected panchayat.
“They will never tell you that they want all the power of the panchayat without contesting elections,” said Narayan Patel, the brother-in-law of village sarpanch Durgavati Devi, claiming RSS men had been trying to create a parallel power centre in the village ever since it was adopted by the prime minister in November. “It is a way they practice politics,” added Patel, who speaks on behalf of the sarpanch. "They would never say it is politics, and yet politics is all that they do.'
Increasing interference
After Jayapur was adopted by Modi under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, a village-level NGO affiliated to the RSS, the Samagra Gram Vikas Samiti, began to put its stamp on all the developmental initiatives that followed. This brought the Samiti into conflict with the elected sarpanch. Allegations and counter-allegations began to fly, and the two started working in complete isolation.
Two months ago, when the Samiti began distributing apple saplings to some of the villagers, Durgavati Devi and her representative Narayan Patel kept away completely. “What is the point in getting involved in this apple drama when you know that in just a few months everything will get exposed?” Patel had told Scroll.in.
The rift came to the fore on March 28, when Modi’s Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra held an open meeting in Jayapur. A group of villagers reportedly complained that at the behest of Durgavati Devi and Narayan Patel, development works were being carried out in selective areas of the village. They also demanded that the BJP should form a committee to deal with all the development works. Though Mishra underlined the necessity of creating an atmosphere of unity, he told the villagers that their well-meaning demands would be met.
New development
Not even 24 hours after Mishra left the village, an 11-member committee – independent of the panchayat system – was formed to monitor development works in the village. Four RSS men who run the Samiti – Arvind Kumar Singh, Pramod, Sudarshan and Chhedi Prasad Sharma – constitute the core of the new committee, called Gram Vikas Samiti.
“We have also kept Durgavati Devi and Narayan Patel in the committee,” said Arvind Kumar Singh, the convener of the older Samiti as well as the newly formed panel. “It is a truly representative body which held its first meeting today and decided to conduct a survey in the village before taking further decisions on the development,” he added.
As was expected, neither Durgawati Devi nor her representative Narayan Patel attended Wednesday’s meeting of the committee. “They are bothered not about the development of the village but about their names," said Narayan Patel. "In the days before the village was adopted by Modi, the temptations were fewer. Samagra Gram Vikas Samiti was registered in 2002 and has existed in the village like any other NGO, doing hardly any development work worth remembering. But now the situation has changed, and everybody wants to show up as if he is the sole leader."
The showdown continues, with the Prime Minister’s Office threatening the panchayati raj system in Jayapur.
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“They will never tell you that they want all the power of the panchayat without contesting elections,” said Narayan Patel, the brother-in-law of village sarpanch Durgavati Devi, claiming RSS men had been trying to create a parallel power centre in the village ever since it was adopted by the prime minister in November. “It is a way they practice politics,” added Patel, who speaks on behalf of the sarpanch. "They would never say it is politics, and yet politics is all that they do.'
Increasing interference
After Jayapur was adopted by Modi under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, a village-level NGO affiliated to the RSS, the Samagra Gram Vikas Samiti, began to put its stamp on all the developmental initiatives that followed. This brought the Samiti into conflict with the elected sarpanch. Allegations and counter-allegations began to fly, and the two started working in complete isolation.
Two months ago, when the Samiti began distributing apple saplings to some of the villagers, Durgavati Devi and her representative Narayan Patel kept away completely. “What is the point in getting involved in this apple drama when you know that in just a few months everything will get exposed?” Patel had told Scroll.in.
The rift came to the fore on March 28, when Modi’s Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra held an open meeting in Jayapur. A group of villagers reportedly complained that at the behest of Durgavati Devi and Narayan Patel, development works were being carried out in selective areas of the village. They also demanded that the BJP should form a committee to deal with all the development works. Though Mishra underlined the necessity of creating an atmosphere of unity, he told the villagers that their well-meaning demands would be met.
New development
Not even 24 hours after Mishra left the village, an 11-member committee – independent of the panchayat system – was formed to monitor development works in the village. Four RSS men who run the Samiti – Arvind Kumar Singh, Pramod, Sudarshan and Chhedi Prasad Sharma – constitute the core of the new committee, called Gram Vikas Samiti.
“We have also kept Durgavati Devi and Narayan Patel in the committee,” said Arvind Kumar Singh, the convener of the older Samiti as well as the newly formed panel. “It is a truly representative body which held its first meeting today and decided to conduct a survey in the village before taking further decisions on the development,” he added.
As was expected, neither Durgawati Devi nor her representative Narayan Patel attended Wednesday’s meeting of the committee. “They are bothered not about the development of the village but about their names," said Narayan Patel. "In the days before the village was adopted by Modi, the temptations were fewer. Samagra Gram Vikas Samiti was registered in 2002 and has existed in the village like any other NGO, doing hardly any development work worth remembering. But now the situation has changed, and everybody wants to show up as if he is the sole leader."
The showdown continues, with the Prime Minister’s Office threatening the panchayati raj system in Jayapur.