Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. 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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. 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No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. 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                <strong>Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth</strong></h1>
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                <font ><br /></font><div align="justify"><font >Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br /><br /><font >All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br /><br /><font >Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br /><br /><font >&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br /><br /><font >Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br /><br /><font >Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br /><br /><font >Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br /><br /><font >Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br /><br /><font >Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br /><br /></div>               </font>
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth&#039;,
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Indian Express, 26 October, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Panchayat-polls--Unusual-candidates-try-their-luck/702584/&#039;,
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$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth&#039;
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth</strong></h1>
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                <font ><br /></font><div align="justify"><font >Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br /><br /><font >All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br /><br /><font >Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br /><br /><font >&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br /><br /><font >Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br /><br /><font >Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br /><br /><font >Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br /><br /><font >Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br /><br /><font >Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br /><br /></div>               </font>
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. 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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&amp;rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&amp;rsquo;s Kashipur village.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &amp;ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&amp;rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &amp;ldquo;khilana-pilana&amp;rdquo; of voters because &amp;ldquo;all candidates have to do it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&amp;rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &amp;ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &amp;ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&amp;rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&amp;rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &amp;ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &amp;ldquo;Raja Mal&amp;rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &amp;ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &amp;ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;font &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&amp;rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. 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So I decided to try my luck.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &amp;ldquo;pradhan shauhar&amp;rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &amp;ldquo;Humen shauk tha&amp;rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;Even minister&amp;rsquo;s relatives are contesting. 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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some..."/>
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                <strong>Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth</strong></h1>
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                <font ><br /></font><div align="justify"><font >Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br /><br /><font >All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br /><br /><font >Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br /><br /><font >&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br /><br /><font >Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br /><br /><font >Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br /><br /><font >Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br /><br /><font >Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br /><br /><font >Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br /><br /></div>               </font>
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		'title' => 'Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck  by  Maulshree Seth',
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br />
<br />
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...',
	'disp' => '<font ><br /></font><div align="justify"><font >Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br /><br /><font >All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br /><br /><font >Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br /><br /><font >&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br /><br /><font >Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br /><br /><font >Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br /><br /><font >Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br /><br /><font >Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br /><br /><font >Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br /><br /></div>',
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<div align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br />
<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br />
<br />
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Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some...'
$disp = '<font ><br /></font><div align="justify"><font >Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls.</font><br /><br /><font >All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them.</font><br /><br /><font >Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday.</font><br /><br /><font >&ldquo;I have seen the pradhan&rsquo;s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district&rsquo;s Kashipur village.</font><br /><br /><font >Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, &ldquo;I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.&rdquo; He said the money raised from selling land had been used for &ldquo;khilana-pilana&rdquo; of voters because &ldquo;all candidates have to do it&rdquo;.</font><br /><br /><font >Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar&rsquo;s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because &ldquo;she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, &ldquo;With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself &ldquo;pradhan shauhar&rdquo;. He said Munisha was contesting because &ldquo;Humen shauk tha&rdquo; (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected.</font><br /><br /><font >Even minister&rsquo;s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from</font><br /><br /><font >Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat&rsquo;s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh&rsquo;s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in</font><br /><br /><font >Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, &ldquo;The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called &ldquo;Raja Mal&rdquo;, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. &ldquo;We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.&rdquo;</font><br /><br /><font >Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, &ldquo;There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.&rdquo; </font><br /><br /></div>'
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Panchayat polls: Unusual candidates try their luck by Maulshree Seth

Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls. All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring into various rural development schemes, particularly MGNREGA, has attracted many of them. Polling in the four-phase election concluded on Monday and the counting of votes will begin on Thursday. “I have seen the pradhan’s family getting rich from the money meant for the poor and Dalits. In the past few years, they have bought vehicles and they ask for money right from issuing job cards under NREGA to payment of wages. Some Dalits from my village asked me to contest the polls so that money meant for welfare of the poor can reach them,” said 55-year-old Girendra Mahatma, who sold half of his land to contest the election of pradhan from Lakhimpur Kheri district’s Kashipur village. Asked how he would earn a living after having sold four of his eight bighas, Mahatma said, “I am not married so it will not be much of a problem. My brother and his sons are helping me. No one in my family has contested an election before.” He said the money raised from selling land had been used for “khilana-pilana” of voters because “all candidates have to do it”. Retired IAS officer Ram Bihari Bhaskar’s wife Bimla Bhaskar is contesting for the membership of Sirsaganj zila panchayat in Jalaun because “she found it interesting and attractive and so entire family decided to support her.” Thirty-six-year-old Rakesh Kumar, who is a teacher of economics at a private school in Shahjahanpur, is contesting the zila panchayat election in his native Lakhimpur district. No one from his family has ever contested a panchayat election. Asked about his interest, he said, “With so many new welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state government, the villages need educated leaders. So I decided to try my luck.” Munisha Begum is contesting for the post of pradhan in Banka village near Shahjahanpur district. Munisha is also the first from her family to contest. She leaves most of the talking to her husband Rayees Ahmed who is managing the election and has already started calling himself “pradhan shauhar”. He said Munisha was contesting because “Humen shauk tha” (I was interested), and the seat was reserved for women. The family has spent about Rs 35,000, which was its saving from the earning from a small shop, hoping that things would be all right after Munisha is elected. Even minister’s relatives are contesting. Sadhna Singh, wife of Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh is contesting the election of zila panchayat member from Gorakhpur, and there have been allegations that the minister had been using his official resources to help her. Similarly, wife of Minister for Vocational Education Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan is contesting zila panchayat election from Mathura, wife of BSP Parliamentary Affairs minister Lalji Verma is contesting election of zila panchayat from Ambedkarnagar, wife of Panchayat Raj minister Swami Prasada Maurya is contesting zila panchayat’s member election from Pratapgarh and wife of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh’s brother Mudit Verma Vandana is contesting the election of zila panchayat member in Muzaffarnagar district. Mudit Verma said, “The seat was reserved for women from backward classes and people approached me to field my wife. Last year, about Rs 30 crore meant for rural development schemes was left unspent in our district. People think this will not happen if Vandana becomes chairman of the zila panchayat.” Kunwar Bhupendra Singh, who is a former ruler of a small princely state and is called “Raja Mal”, is contesting for the post of pradhan of Mal village panchayat. A former Lucknow district president of the BJP, he has been pradhan in the past and his wife has been the pradhan twice. “We have been here for ages. Since Mal Assembly seat has been reserved, I decided to contest for pradhan to serve the people this way.” Asked about the increased interest of people in the panchayat elections this time, Singh admitted, “There is no doubt that welfare schemes like various pension and scholarships that are distributed through gram sabhas and NREGA are attracting people this time.”