Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022: The many moods, colours and voices behind the vote

Ahead of the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh state elections, Consulting Editor (Photo) Madhu Kapparath captures some of the action and colour on the campaign and voting trail since it be

Mar 04, 2022, 18:30 IST6 min

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On the outskirts of Shamli, on agricultural land they have leased, Baburam and his brother Tejpal, make jaggery with the help of their sons. Baburam, who was working as a labourer in New Delhi, came back home when money and ration ran out during the Covid-19 induced lockdown. The fear of isolation he felt in those days hasn’t left him, he says. Lilon, Shamli, February 10, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Anil Kumar lounges on his cot in Jat-dominated Taharpur Bhabisa, in the midst of a harvesting season in the country’s biggest sugarcane growing state. He denies reports that farmer arrears were one of the lowest in the last year, and resents the expensive electricity he has to use for irrigation. It must be free, says the Jat from a well-to-do family in the village. Shamli, February 10, 2

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Farm labourers from Loharipur, some among them Dalit, leap over a divide on the highway on their way to their homes. They are unanimous in their choice of the vote and the reason behind it: BJP has promised Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries two free gas cylinders. Baghpat, February 10, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Vehicles on the road to Gorakhpur often veer off onto mud embankments as the work on the Varanasi-Gorakhpur highway along Ami river gets underway at Ojhauli, Gorakhpur, February 12, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Deepak Rajbhar, a Class 10 student in Shivale, joins his neighbours as they dig for leftover bits of metal bars from a highway construction site that was previously used for casting concrete slabs. Rajbhar, like the others, hopes to sell them for some money till the day he can fulfil his dream of joining the Indian Army. Many in his village couldn’t because the middlemen were asking for

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Students stream out after a Maths class at Chetana Plus Coaching Centre in Dobhi, Jaunpur. Prince Maurya and Himanshu Singh (third and fourth from left) from SGS Inter College are aiming for NEET and joining the civil services. Dobhi, Jaunpur, February 12, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Aloft the rooftop of a modified bus, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav rallies his supporters, mostly youth, at Alambagh as the bus winds through the traffic in Lucknow. Behind him, the concrete pillars of the metro rail project span out, one of his marked achievements in his years as the chief minister. Lucknow, February 20, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Ask the shopkeepers and residents of the sliced-off buildings in Rani Ki Sarai, a main thoroughfare in Azamgarh, and they puzzle over why theirs were razed overnight when the new expressway actually passes parallel, just metres away from here. Then someone ventures, "this was Samajwadi Party’s stronghold...”. Azamgarh, February 12, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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On a blazing afternoon, Bahujan Samaj Party’s supporters mull listlessly around their candidate Sushil Kumar Sinha. A party that was formed to represent Bahujans (referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes), BSP and its leader Mayawati finds itself with a marginal voice in the current political churn. Azamgarh, February 12, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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A devotee pays obeisance to a gallery of deified yogis of India at the Gorakhnath Math, founded by Gorakshanath (Circa early 11th century). The current chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, who is seeking re-election, is of the monastic order of Nath tradition, that follows no caste conventions. Gorakhpur, February 12, 2022

Image by Madhu Kapparath