In the MP village that inspired ‘Peepli Live’, a trailer of the election ahead
While CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is not unpopular, the villagers have several grievances.
The 2010 Amir Khan-produced Peepli Live was a sensation — but not many know about the village the movie was based on.
The village, called Sehra, is located about 200 km from Bhopal, the capital of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. I travelled to the village as part of our election coverage and interacted with its residents — including the real-life Natha.
The character of Natha was based on Kunjilal Malviya. He comes from a family of astrologers, and at the age of 75, had predicted his own death. Though he did not die, his dramatic prediction hit national headlines. Seven years later, Khan made a movie on the subject.
Locals recall the time in 2003 when the whole village was flooded with outsiders, curious about whether Kunjilal’s prediction would come true.
Kunjilal is 90 today. Age has made him frail, but he is still actively interested in the politics of the state.
He never watched Peepli Live.
Kunjilal is quite happy with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who, he says, has improved the lot of not just Sehra, but their entire district of Betul.
The reasons for Kunjilal’s admiration are not hard to see. The village has primary schools, and there is a high school nearby. The state highway leading to Sehra from Betul is well-maintained. Electricity supply to Sehra is regular, it has a primary health care centre, and a bigger state-run hospital is not far-off.
But not everyone is as happy. Many inhabitants of the village have major grievances.
Parashuram dada, 78, says that for the past several polls, politicians from the BJP and the Opposition parties have been making the same promises. “Every election, we are told farm loans will be waived and the village will get drinking water. We are still waiting for either promise to be fulfilled,” he says.
The villagers’ ire, however, is directed more at their local MLA rather than CM Chouhan.
The locals say that after winning the Betul seat in 2013, their MLA, BJP’s Hemant Khandelwal has not visited the village even once. “When we go to his house or office to seek help, we are told the MLA is in Bhopal, Delhi, the USA,” says Anuj, a villager.
The need for farm relief is apparent.
Ramkishor, a farmer, says: “My family and I toil the whole day, but barely manage two square meals. For the past three years, we have been unable to even recover the input costs of farming, and are therefore forced to keep borrowing from banks.”
Youngsters have other concerns.
Deepak, pursuing a BSc degree, and Santosh, enrolled in a BCA course, are apprehensive about ever landing a job. According to the duo, barely 10% of the youth in the village have found jobs. They believe Chouhan has neglected the problem of unemployment, and hence, they want a change of guard this time.
But arguably, the most acute problem in the village is the shortage of drinking water. Women spend long hours queued up in front of the lone tubewell. Children have to miss school to help ferry water. Even that tubewell gets water supply only on alternate days.
Things will only get worse. Lakshmi Hukum Singh says: “The pipe will dry up by the end of February or the first week of March. Then the real trouble will begin. Children will be forced to walk for kilometres, carrying water.”
Many in the village believe the state government has come up with schemes to help them, but the benefits did not reach them because of the failure and ignorance of the local political leadership and the local administration.
Thus, even though the CM himself is not too unpopular, the lackluster performance of the local MLA seems to have turned many against his party.
The villagers have once again been promised a lot before this election — it remains to be seen whose words they will buy this time.