With three women farmers by her side, BJP MP Hema Malini was recently seen posing and getting clicked with crop in her hand in a Mathura village, some days before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections commence.
The Quint visited Mathura during the campaign, only to find visibly disgruntled locals who only asked one question: "Where is Hema Malini?"
A BJP stronghold, locals in Mathura believe that "vote goes to Modi ji and not Hema Malini," as Manish Rawat, a farmer from Bera village put it.
He told The Quint, "She has never visited these villages, we have never seen her in 10 years. No development has been brought about in this place, contrary to what she claims."
Rawat stated that Malini only met some locals in 2014, before she was elected for her first term, but since then, she has hardly made any effort to know the people and their issues in Mathura.
He said that she did not even visit Mathura whenever there was a tragedy or disaster such as the fire in the fireworks market that took place in November 2023.
Moreover, he stated that the locals "do not have a lot of expectations from her" as they would rather have a local candidate to represent them and their demands.
"There should be a local MP representing us. Now will we go to Mumbai to visit her? Hema Malini only getting the votes in the name of PM Modi."Manish Rawat, farmer in Mathura
A few days ago, the MP who is now actively campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections visited a wheat field in Mathura and posted pictures on X (formerly Twitter).
"Today I went into the farms to interact with the farmers who I have been meeting regularly these 10 years. They loved having me in their midst and insisted I pose with them which I did," she wrote.
Speaking to ANI, she recently stated that she wants to continue working for the development in Mathura.
She added, "The people of Mathura, "Brajwasi are with us, and they will 100 per cent help the BJP cross the 400-seat mark."
However, in Iroli Gujar village in Mathura, another farmer, Kamal Singh reacting to her statement, told The Quint:
"I haven't once seen her in 10 years here. Sitting far away, she keep saying, 'I have got this done, that done.' Nothing has been done. She adopted one village (Rawal), does only one village vote for her? Where do the rest go?"
In 2014, Hema Malini adopted Raval village in Uttar Pradesh under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address that year.
Similar sentiments were echoed by all local villagers on the ground who stated that
On Malini's part, ANI reported in 2019 that she visited a village in Mathura as she posed on a tractor in Govardhan.
During the last general elections, Malini launched her election campaign in a similar manner: in the fields, posing with the crop, among the farmers.
During the last elections, Malini won the Mathura Lok Sabha seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh with a margin of 2,93,471 votes.
Her first brush with politics came in 1999 when she campaigned for actor Vinod Khanna, who was then contesting as a BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab. From 2003 to 2009, she served as a nominated member in Rajya Sabha.
Malini transitioned into electoral politics after a victory over RLD's Jayant Chaudhary from Mathura in 2014.
In 2024 elections, she faces Mukesh Dhangar is the Congress candidate in Mathura.
Another local, Munni Devi stated that she only remembered seeing Malini near a cow-shed when she visited in 2014.
"I saw her 10 years ago too when I was living near a cow-shed. But she doesn't come anymore," corroborated Devi.
For Malini's critics in Mathura, her absence is reminiscent of the lines in her famous song 'Dreamgirl': 'Kabhi tou milegi, kahin tou milegi...'
First phase of Lok Sabah elections begin on 19 April. Mathura goes to polls in the second phase on 26 April.
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