A year ago, when Narendra Modi secured a landslide victory in Varanasi, there was a distinct saffron feel in the air in the Lok Sabha constituency. People were fascinated by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leader. But today, a local politician is stealing the development narrative from the prime minister.
Samajwadi Party legislator Surendra Patel is the Minister of State for Public Works Department and Irrigation in Akhilesh Yadav’s Uttar Pradesh government. As the MLA from Sewapuri, he represents only one of the five assembly segments that make the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by Modi. But the development works he has initiated, especially those related to roads and bridges, for the entire parliamentary constituency are beginning to turn to him for help.
In everyday chatter, he is described as the man of development, and expectedly the BJP is not happy with this development.
BJP leader and Mayor of Varanasi Ram Gopal Mohley believes that Patel is “trying to gain cheap popularity”. “Modiji cannot think about Varanasi alone,” Mohley said. “He has to think about the entire country. If you want to see development, visit Assi ghat [one of the over 80 ghats on Ganga]. For years it has remained under silt, but now it has become so clean. We are also working on underground sewerage. But all this will take time.”
Echoing this sentiment, Shiv Sharan Pathak, who is in charge of Modi’s parliamentary office in Varanasi, said: “Of the five MLAs in this Lok Sabha constituency, Surendra Patel cooperates the least in any concerted effort to develop Varanasi.”
Unsettling pace
For his part, Patel is dismissive of the BJP’s criticism. “Who is at fault?” he asked. “Modi promised acche din, but has done nothing so far to develop the city. The removal of silt from Assi ghat is all the BJP government can claim in the last one year. Am I committing a crime by concentrating on the development of all the roads and bridges in the city?”
Last weekend, Patel inaugurated five major roads in Varanasi town and laid the foundation for six other projects. He also inaugurated 10 roads and laid the foundation for 11 others in rural parts of the district, consisting of the Sewapuri and Rohinia assembly constituencies.
“The work is moving so fast that I remain busy every weekend in either laying foundation for new projects or inaugurating completed ones,” Patel said. He is missing no opportunity to put the Samajwadi Party government’s stamp on every road and bridge his Public Works Department constructs.
BJP strikes back
Patel’s development efforts started gaining pace after the Lok Sabha elections last year. “Merely three months after the general election, Modi’s candidate [Apna Dal leader Krishna Patel] was defeated in the assembly bypoll at Rohinia,” Patel said. It was Surendra Patel’s brother, Mahendra Patel, who won the seat in the by-election.
“In the Lok Sabha election Modi had received nearly 1.20 lakh votes from Rohinia, while the Samajwadi Party candidate got just about 10,000 votes,” Surendra Patel pointed out. “But in the assembly bypoll, Krishna Patel of the BJP got 61,000 votes while my brother received nearly 76,000. Isn’t it a reversal of the wave?”
Inevitably, Patel's road projects are being compared with the promises made by Modi. This attracted attention in Delhi too. This became obvious on May 9, when Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu launched three Central social security schemes in Varanasi. At the event, he hit out at the state government for trying to obstruct the development of the city. Naidu blamed “long years of neglect” by central and state governments for keeping Varanasi in poor shape and declared that “the holy city is now set for a radical transformation”.
Notwithstanding Naidu’s assertion, Patel claims that locals have begun to get impatient in Modi’s constituency. “The question that everyone in Varanasi asks these days is this: how long does it take for a prime minister to make a difference?” asked Surendra Patel.
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Samajwadi Party legislator Surendra Patel is the Minister of State for Public Works Department and Irrigation in Akhilesh Yadav’s Uttar Pradesh government. As the MLA from Sewapuri, he represents only one of the five assembly segments that make the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by Modi. But the development works he has initiated, especially those related to roads and bridges, for the entire parliamentary constituency are beginning to turn to him for help.
In everyday chatter, he is described as the man of development, and expectedly the BJP is not happy with this development.
BJP leader and Mayor of Varanasi Ram Gopal Mohley believes that Patel is “trying to gain cheap popularity”. “Modiji cannot think about Varanasi alone,” Mohley said. “He has to think about the entire country. If you want to see development, visit Assi ghat [one of the over 80 ghats on Ganga]. For years it has remained under silt, but now it has become so clean. We are also working on underground sewerage. But all this will take time.”
Echoing this sentiment, Shiv Sharan Pathak, who is in charge of Modi’s parliamentary office in Varanasi, said: “Of the five MLAs in this Lok Sabha constituency, Surendra Patel cooperates the least in any concerted effort to develop Varanasi.”
Unsettling pace
For his part, Patel is dismissive of the BJP’s criticism. “Who is at fault?” he asked. “Modi promised acche din, but has done nothing so far to develop the city. The removal of silt from Assi ghat is all the BJP government can claim in the last one year. Am I committing a crime by concentrating on the development of all the roads and bridges in the city?”
Last weekend, Patel inaugurated five major roads in Varanasi town and laid the foundation for six other projects. He also inaugurated 10 roads and laid the foundation for 11 others in rural parts of the district, consisting of the Sewapuri and Rohinia assembly constituencies.
“The work is moving so fast that I remain busy every weekend in either laying foundation for new projects or inaugurating completed ones,” Patel said. He is missing no opportunity to put the Samajwadi Party government’s stamp on every road and bridge his Public Works Department constructs.
BJP strikes back
Patel’s development efforts started gaining pace after the Lok Sabha elections last year. “Merely three months after the general election, Modi’s candidate [Apna Dal leader Krishna Patel] was defeated in the assembly bypoll at Rohinia,” Patel said. It was Surendra Patel’s brother, Mahendra Patel, who won the seat in the by-election.
“In the Lok Sabha election Modi had received nearly 1.20 lakh votes from Rohinia, while the Samajwadi Party candidate got just about 10,000 votes,” Surendra Patel pointed out. “But in the assembly bypoll, Krishna Patel of the BJP got 61,000 votes while my brother received nearly 76,000. Isn’t it a reversal of the wave?”
Inevitably, Patel's road projects are being compared with the promises made by Modi. This attracted attention in Delhi too. This became obvious on May 9, when Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu launched three Central social security schemes in Varanasi. At the event, he hit out at the state government for trying to obstruct the development of the city. Naidu blamed “long years of neglect” by central and state governments for keeping Varanasi in poor shape and declared that “the holy city is now set for a radical transformation”.
Notwithstanding Naidu’s assertion, Patel claims that locals have begun to get impatient in Modi’s constituency. “The question that everyone in Varanasi asks these days is this: how long does it take for a prime minister to make a difference?” asked Surendra Patel.