Near Lucknow, farm and cow issues, and a struggle to attend to candidates

About a third of all wheat consumed in India comes from UP, even though the state produces just 33.9 quintals per hectare

“This election could not have come at a worse time,” grumbled Shivkumar. “We have no time, we’re harvesting wheat and people keep coming here to campaign. They want to talk to us, improve things…want our suggestions. But we have no time”.

Looking for agricultural distress in Mohanlalganj, a reserved constituency barely 30 km from Lucknow was a waste of time. Every second house had a tractor parked nearby, which suggested both the scale of farming and the turnover. Eighty per cent of the children go to private, English medium schools. The government school has five teachers and only 50 children. Everyone,