Elections 2019: Squeezed Between 2 VIP Constituencies, Development Fails to Reach Pratapgarh

Pratapgarh: The Lok Sabha constituency of Pratapgarh, which falls under the Allahabad division, is a very congested and unorganised city, leaving anyone who visits the city with a bitter taste.

Pratapgarh was one of those cities in Uttar Pradesh which underwent early industrialisation and was one among the major hubs of employment in the eastern part of the state, which otherwise had more hand looms and weavers, as compared to machines.

Auto Tractor Limited (ATL) or Pratap Tractors, as it is more popularly known, a tractor and jeep engine manufacturing unit was set up in Bhupiamau area of the district in the 18th century. The unit gave employment to over 1,300 families of the area while it also helped people outside the district by getting the work outsourced.

By the late 18th century more than 15,000 people were working in this industry but in 1990, during the chief minister-ship of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, the industry was closed and it laid off its 15,000 employees.

According to the city expert Pawan Sharma, who runs an automobile spare parts business near the Civil Lines intersection, the district is in urgent need of development and job creation.

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“People from the lower middle class and upper middle class are the worst affected people in the district which has no major source of income. People from Pratapgarh either go to Allahabad to other states for jobs. This place has no industry. The small industries were destroyed by the demonetisation drive and whatever was left was taken away by the implementation of GST,” Sharma says.

He further adds, “Despite giving many stalwart leaders like Raja Bhaiyaa who comes from the royal family, the region is reeling under the callous attitude of the politicians and government. If eastern Uttar Pradesh is the heart of Indian politics then Pratapgarh is the capital of it and it deserves development.”

Vinod Mishra, a small-time trader of Amla (gooseberry) products like Amla juice, candies and murabba (candied gooseberries), says the government brags a lot about Pratapgarh’s Amla but the fact is that even that sector is actually running on its own.

“The government has done nothing for the food processing industry. You can call it a blessing of the god that at least something is there which is doing good without any effort. If the government was actually willing to help in any way then why did it decline permission to two young entrepreneurs who wanted to set up a small brewery? If they would have set it up here, it would have created job opportunities for the people of the city but that never happened,” he says.

He adds, “Jaise aamla khatta, waise hi yaha ka sab kuch khatta hai. Kuch meetha nahi, na ummeed hai meethe ki kisi ko sarkaar se,(Everything is sour here like gooseberry and we do not expect anything sweet (development) from the government here).”

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Pratapgarh-based senior journalist Panna Lal says, “Many promises had been made to the district which were never fulfilled. The district is getting crushed between two high profile constituencies of Rae Bareli and Allahabad, and may be this is the reason that Pratapgarh, despite being so important could never flourish.”

“It is not that efforts have not been made to revive Pratap Tractors but it failed every time as all were half hearted efforts. None of the leaders from the area were ever serious about the issues of the city. The other problem is that the constituency always failed to get traction because all the attention was gleaned by Rae Bareli, Amethi and other VIP constituencies,” the veteran journalist said.