N Haitram, a 70-year-old labourer says, "My house has been damaged for so many years. No one has helped me repair it. The government has so many schemes, but none reach us. But I will vote for Behenji. Under the BJP and Samajwadi Party, we did not get any benefit. Mayawati will do something for us. The others just came for our vote -- after that they never came back."

For R Renu, women empowerment is the issue. She has studied up to Class 8 and has three children -- one daughter and two sons. Her husband Ramveer Singh works as a painter. He works 20 days a month.

She will vote for the person who she thinks will do something for her village, particularly village women. "There should be employment for women at home. Even if we get a buffalo at home, it will be a money earner for us. If I could train to be a beautician, I would open a beauty parlour at home. There should be a Mahila Rozgar Yojana (a government scheme to provide employment for women)."

"We want to stay at home to look after our kids and at the same time earn to supplement the family income."

Says farmer B Jaipal Singh, "We are farm labourers and when there is no work in the fields we work as painters." The newly married Singh did not go to school but said he will send his children to school when he has them.

He voted for the Samajwadi Party candidate in the municipal election because he liked the man. In the assembly election he will vote for the BSP nominee. "They belong to our family. They listen to us. During the Samajwadi Party rule all jobs were given to Yadavs. We did not get any. We might get jobs under Mayawati. BSP party workers do good work in our society."

C Chaman Singh has a few buffaloes, each of which yields two to three litres of milk a day. He sells it for Rs 10 a litre.

"I always vote for the winner," he says with pride. "Whoever the villagers unanimously choose, I will vote for that candidate. This time we might vote for the BSP." He admits that at least 10% of the villagers will not follow this diktat.

His mother C Nathiya has her list of grievances, "So many times they have taken a survey of the village. They promised us pension but it never came. I am eligible for both old age pension and widow pension. We have a ration card. We get kerosene and sugar. We do not get food grains because we live in a concrete house."

Another villager, R Sharada, though, had only one problem with the present government. They had allowed prices to rise beyond the reach of the poor. "We will vote for the BSP because they will bring down prices," she declared.

As more villages think on the lines of Mau, all signs point to a return to power for Mayawati. Will she last the term is the only question that remains to be answered.

Image: Chaman Singh says he has always voted for the winner, and that this time his vote is for Mayawati.

Also see: Congress takes credit for the achievements of SRK, Sania, Premji

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