On Friday, Narendra Modi travelled to his constituency of Varanasi to officially adopt Jayapur village, 32 km from the city centre, under his Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna. Under this plan, each MP is supposed to adopt one village and develop it into a model settlement. But as the prime minister headed to Jayapur, villagers in nearby Kakrahiyan claimed that they have been betrayed: they allege that Modi had initially indicated that he would take their settlement under this wing.
Modi had originally intended to travel to Varanasi to adopt a village on October 14 and October 15, but the trip was called off because of cyclone Hudhud. At that time, it was not Jayapur but Kakrahiyan that was being cleaned up by the district administration to be suitable showcase for the prime minister's MP Model Village Scheme
“For almost two weeks in October, our village was the focal point for entire district administration," Kakrahiyan sarpanch Manoj Kumar told Scroll.in over phone. "By the time Modiji’s plan to visit Varanasi was called off on October 12, the district administration had given a complete facelift to our village.”
The district administration had even printed booklets profiling the village ready for distribution on the day Kakrahiyan was to be adopted by Modi, the sarpanch said. "The villagers who were supposed to interact with the Prime Minister on that occasion had also been identified,” he claimed.
A sample of booklet profiling Kakrahiyan village.
Around the end of October, a fresh schedule for Modi’s visit to Varanasi was announced. But in his new plan, Kakrahiyan had been replaced by Jayapur. “We were clueless as to why our village was betrayed by Modiji,” Kumar said.
On Tuesday, about 150 residents of Kakrahiyan village submitted a memorandum to the district Bharatiya Janata Party office protesting the change. “But our villagers were told that selecting a village was prerogative of the prime minister and that the change in decision took place at the topmost level," said Kumar.
Kumar, who is also a local BJP leader, claimed that Jayapur is already a developed village. "Its roads are perfect and it has a degree college, a hospital, a big market and even a petrol pump well within 5 km radius," he said. "But Kakrahiyan is very backward. It has none of these facilities and the condition of its roads is so poor that even to reach our nearest market at Lohta, which is merely 2 km away, we have to take a long detour of 10 km."
Modi, Kumar claimed, "wants a ready-made model village, where he won’t have to do any work".
BJP officials in the area told Scroll.in that the last-minute change was related to Modi’s attempts to keep members of the Kurmi caste in good humour. While Kakrahiyan is dominated by Thakurs, Jayapur is dominated by Kurmis.
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Modi had originally intended to travel to Varanasi to adopt a village on October 14 and October 15, but the trip was called off because of cyclone Hudhud. At that time, it was not Jayapur but Kakrahiyan that was being cleaned up by the district administration to be suitable showcase for the prime minister's MP Model Village Scheme
“For almost two weeks in October, our village was the focal point for entire district administration," Kakrahiyan sarpanch Manoj Kumar told Scroll.in over phone. "By the time Modiji’s plan to visit Varanasi was called off on October 12, the district administration had given a complete facelift to our village.”
The district administration had even printed booklets profiling the village ready for distribution on the day Kakrahiyan was to be adopted by Modi, the sarpanch said. "The villagers who were supposed to interact with the Prime Minister on that occasion had also been identified,” he claimed.
A sample of booklet profiling Kakrahiyan village.
Around the end of October, a fresh schedule for Modi’s visit to Varanasi was announced. But in his new plan, Kakrahiyan had been replaced by Jayapur. “We were clueless as to why our village was betrayed by Modiji,” Kumar said.
On Tuesday, about 150 residents of Kakrahiyan village submitted a memorandum to the district Bharatiya Janata Party office protesting the change. “But our villagers were told that selecting a village was prerogative of the prime minister and that the change in decision took place at the topmost level," said Kumar.
Kumar, who is also a local BJP leader, claimed that Jayapur is already a developed village. "Its roads are perfect and it has a degree college, a hospital, a big market and even a petrol pump well within 5 km radius," he said. "But Kakrahiyan is very backward. It has none of these facilities and the condition of its roads is so poor that even to reach our nearest market at Lohta, which is merely 2 km away, we have to take a long detour of 10 km."
Modi, Kumar claimed, "wants a ready-made model village, where he won’t have to do any work".
BJP officials in the area told Scroll.in that the last-minute change was related to Modi’s attempts to keep members of the Kurmi caste in good humour. While Kakrahiyan is dominated by Thakurs, Jayapur is dominated by Kurmis.
