Tracking the mood of the voters on a suburban train from Delhi to Palwal

Political discussions and train journeys are inseparable in India. Hemani Bhandari tracks the mood of the voters on a suburban train from Delhi to Palwal

May 06, 2019 01:38 am | Updated 08:08 am IST

Poll talk: Passengers on board a Delhi suburban train.

Poll talk: Passengers on board a Delhi suburban train.

It’s 9.45 a.m. and the suburban train or EMU going to Haryana’s Palwal is five minutes late.

A 55-year-old man sitting on a bench and reading a Hindi national daily nods his head and tells his friend sitting next to him: “ Kaam to vaakeyi kiya hai Modi ne [Modi has really done good work].”

The man who has just finished reading an article on BJP president Amit Shah’s public meeting in Vasant Kunj on Wednesday evening, says with conviction that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured that the “country is secure”. The suburban train arrives on platform number 2, the two friends board it and quietly take the seats by the window. “ Keh to aap sahi rahe hain [What you are saying is right],” the friend completes the conversation. When asked about the issues they would vote for, the two refrain from answering.

As the train starts moving with about 70 passengers in the compartment, some sitting on the berths, some on the floor and others standing in the passage, a discussion begins among a group of people, including a CRPF constable, a software engineer, a BTech student, a teacher on election duty, and a fruit seller among others.

By the time the train reaches the next station — Hazrat Nizamuddin — CRPF constable Sher Singh (32), a Mathura resident, has listed his reasons on why he voted for the BJP. Mr. Singh, who is currently posted in Chhattisgarh and has come to Delhi for some work in the CRPF headquarters, says he has voted for the first time. Polling in Delhi is scheduled for May 12 and the results will be declared on May 23.

Security concerns

“In this government, we, the security forces, have the freedom to decide on counter-strike. The weapons we are using are obsolete. It’s Modi who has started a manufacturing unit in Amethi,” he says. Mr. Singh says he used the postal ballot in Chhattisgarh which enables the service voters to exercise their franchise. “I have never voted before. After joining the force in 2010, I was posted in Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, but did not know about the postal ballot system till recently.”

Mr. Singh was visibly upset with his brother and father for being impressed with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his Minimum Income Scheme (NYAY), promising ₹72,000 per year to five crore families. “They [Congress] will not do anything, but have taken away two votes for the BJP from our house,” he says.

Govt report card

Software engineer Krishna Sharma (24), who is sitting on the window seat, echoes Mr. Singh’s sentiment. “You are right. This government may have lacked in matters like employment generation, politics around cows and communal issues, but they have done 60%-70% good work; they have basically passed with first division,” he says. Mr. Sharma, a Noida resident, who is on his way to meet a friend in Tughlakabad, insists “Narendra Modi has the best management skills”. “Their [BJP] packaging and presentation is very good, unlike Arvind Kejriwal [Delhi Chief Minister]. Kejriwal has done a lot of good work in the Capital but I don’t know what happens to him when he starts speaking,” he laughs.

Sharing his two cents on polling, as the others listen intently, he says, “There are three types of voters: those who are traditional voters, those who follow the herd, and those who analyse, which is very less; now you can understand what might happen in these elections.”

“But an Indian has returned safely from Pakistan, is that a joke,” interrupts Rajesh Kumar, a Ballabhgarh-based fruit seller, while referring to the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was held captive by Pakistan for two days.

Mr. Kumar, who had come to Delhi to meet a relative admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, says he is still reeling under the impact of demonetisation.

However, he is impressed with the government. When asked what all has the government done, he says: “That I don’t know but whatever it is, it’s good.”

Anil (24), a railway ticket collector sitting next to Mr. Sharma, jumps on the question.

Skill development

“I will tell you… Skill India [Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana] has helped my brother. He got enrolled in a medical course at an institute listed under the programme and it costs us ₹40,000 a year for a two-year-course. They said he’ll also get a small-time job after the course.”

Referring to a video of the Balakot air strike which was doing the rounds on WhatsApp in the last week of February, Mr. Anil, who is going home in Tughlakabad, says, “Modi did not just say that this is a new India, he actually meant it.”

Standing close to the group, Chetan Sharma (18), a resident of Faridabad and a BTech student from a Rohtak college who had come to Delhi to spend time with his friends, is listening intently to the conversation while munching on dry snacks he bought from a woman vendor on the train. “The problem is we don’t have another option. Desh mazaak ke hath mein to nahi de sakte [We can’t give the country in the hands of a joke],” he says.

Youth interest

Chetan, who’s going to vote for the first time, says because of the current government youngsters are taking interest in politics. “Even if for controversies around communalism and cows, youths have started thinking and talking about politics in their usual conversations.” He claims that his family members are traditionally Congress voters but he will “change the trend this election”. As the train crosses Ballabhgarh, the conversation draws to a close with a 55-year-old Delhi government schoolteacher, who’s on poll duty and might not be able to vote, suddenly reciting what sounds like a blank verse for the Prime Minister.

“Narendra Modi is a patriotic, honest, dedicated, sincere, selfless and ready-to-die-for-the-country person whose birth in India is our good fortune.”

Experience speaks

As the train reaches the last stop, Palwal, 72-year-old Radhey Shyam, a retired inspector from Faridabad Municipal Corporation who had come to Delhi for his quarterly health check-up at G.B. Pant Hospital, shakes his head in disapproval as he gets ready to alight the train.

Wo kehte hain na ki waqt accha hota hai to gadhe bhi panjiri khate hain… Modi ka kewal time accha chal raha hai . These people don’t know what we recovered from in the years after Independence and what the Congress did for the recovery. Modi has only inaugurated the bullet train, the tracks were laid by the Congress.”

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