KANPUR: Bikru village in Kanpur Dehat does not need any introduction. One and half years ago, the village had hit the headlines thanks to dreaded gangster Vikas Dubey. The gangster attacked a police party killing eight police personnel, including three sub-inspectors and a deputy SP, on the intervening night of July 2 and 3, 2020.
“Now neither Vikas Dubey is there nor his terror. For us the ongoing polls are no less than a festival,” says Rakesh Pandey sporting a smile of relief and pointing towards a group of children running with flags of different political parties in the village.
Three decades ago, the emergence of gangster Dubey in Bikru had led the sun of democracy set in this village and adjoining ones. Dubey was killed in an alleged encounter by the UP Police hardly a week after the massacre of its personnel.
The change in the air of Bikru is palpable. “It is for the first time in three decades that we will be able to vote as per our own choice. Earlier, during the times of Vikas Dubey, the whole village would be forced to vote for the party whose flag fluttered on Dubey’s house. Nobody could dare to flout his call,” says Virendra Dubey living in the first street as soon as one enters the village.
Rakesh Pandey, living close by, adds: “The country got freedom 75 years ago but Bikru residents became free only in 2020.” He claims that the picture of the village has changed. “Now people are discussing their choices and expressing their opinions freely. Earlier, the party which had the support of ‘Panditji’ (Dubey) could enter the village for campaigning,” adds Pandey.
Bikru falls in Kanpur Dehat but votes in Bilhaur constituency that falls in Kanpur Nagar district. Both Kanpur Nagar and Dehat districts go to polls Sunday. While this is the first Assembly election without Vikas Dubey in 30 years, the village got a Dalit woman Madhu Kamal elected as its head during the panchayat polls in 2021.
“The villagers have no one to fear now. Preparations are in full swing for the Assembly election and villagers are full of zeal as they will be able to chose a candidate of their choice after a long time,” says Madhu who is not ready to get photographed.
Ramkishan Yadav, a milk vendor says he is an SP supporter but hasn’t made up his mind yet on whom to vote. “My vote will go to the one in favour of whom the wind will blow,” says Yadav adding that he won’t waste his vote on a losing candidate.
Similarly, Kallu, Sonu, Chandra Kishore and Arun, all in their early and mid-20s are happy that they will cast vote for their own candidate. “The candidates are coming to campaign in Bikru after 25 to 30 years,” says Mohammad Aslam, a village elder whose family allegedly suffered at the hands of the gangster.
Law and order may be the priority for the villagers but there are other pressing issues that they want an immediate solution to. Lalla Khan says he will support those who help save his crops from stray cattle. “The cattle have been such a big problem. We have a fixed routine: go to the fields, keep an eye on cattle and guard the crops. We do it together,” he says.