Chillupar (Gorakhpur): The ‘shamshan-kabristan’ debate in the ongoing elections in Uttar Pradesh may or may not have had the desired impact on the voters but in Chillupar, ten years ago, it was a ‘shamshan’ (cremation ground) that changed the politics of this Assembly segment.
Chillupar, an Assembly segment in Gorakhpur district, came under spotlight in 1985 when Hari Shankar Tiwari, the erstwhile mafia don of eastern UP, won his first election from here.
Mr Tiwari, a soft-spoken leader, was then in direct conflict with his rival Virendra Pratap Shahi, a Thakur mafia don. The underworld war translated into a Brahmin-Thakur battle and Chillupar became a pilgrimage of sorts for Brahmin in the area.
From 1985 to 2007, Hari Shankar Tiwari won continuously from Chillupar and even had a stint as a minister in the Kalyan Singh and then Mulayam Singh governments.
In 2003, a political greenhorn, Rajesh Tripathi participated in the cremation of a relative and was appalled at the condition of the place. He started working for a makeover of the place and transformed the dirty and foul-smelling ground on the banks of Saryu river into the picture-perfect park after removing mounds of garbage and checking open defecation.
The ‘Mukti Path’, as the cremation ground is now called, has emerged as a centre of tourist attraction and Rajesh Tripathi has earned the name of ‘Mashan Baba’.
His supporters egged him on to contest the Assembly seat in 2007 against Hari Shankar Tiwari and political pundits were left stumped when he actually managed to defeat the erstwhile don. Mr Tripathi went on to become a minister in the Mayawati government. He won the seat again in 2012 but left the BSP a few months ago to join the BJP and is now in the fray on a BJP ticket. As a minister, he had faced charges of land-grabbing.
“I hope people take the PM’s statement on ‘shamshan’ in the right spirit. We owe basic dignity to the dead and the bereaved. ‘Mukti Path’ allow people to grieve for the departed souls in a tranquil atmosphere. Earlier, people would rush out after lighting the pyre because of the stench around,” he says.
Though the people continue to acknowledge Mr Tripathi’s contribution, there is now a growing feeling of sympathy for the ageing don.
