It’s 5:30 in the evening and Amar Shahid Chandrashekhar Azad Park (earlier known as Company Bagh) started drawing more and more crowd.

As a reporter from a national news channel entered the park and went around seeking people’s views on general elections, the crowd got divided into camps — those who support Modi and those against him. The latter had lesser numbers than the former.

The debate continued even after the reporter left. “Nationalism is the key issue in this election,” said Jaywardhan Tripathi a young man in his thirties. Similarly, Sadhana, an old lady, was full of praises for Modi.

“He has shown the world how India has developed... there is employment… beti bachao-beti padhao is really a great initiative….” she said.

More people joined the discussion. Sudhir, a man in his early 20s, was rather angry. “What has Modi ji done for providing employment? There is no job in the government sector while private factories are getting shut down,” he said posing a question to those who support Modi.

On unemployment

He was supported by a student union leader who cited the leaked unpublished NSSO data to argue that the unemployment was the highest in four decades.

Businessline caught up with Mahendra Goel, a distributor of FMCG products and his son Sanskar Goel, who is preparing for engineering entrances.

Sanskar is determined not to get involved in the family business. “I want a permanent job. Business is running on a thin margin. We cannot go on like this,” he said.

His father, who is also the State president of Confederation of All India Traders, on the other hand, complained that he was forced to use his reserves to stay afloat. “Margin is very thin in smaller cities,” he said adding that demonetisation along with the implementation of GST added to the woes.

“Baaz bach gaye, kabootar mar diye gaye, (eagle survived while pigeons were killed), ” Goel summed up demonetisation while his grouse against GST was that GSTN is not working properly most of the times.

Agreeing with Goel is Sardar Joginder Singh, a hotel owner and president of Hotel & Restaurant Association. “We are just postmen when it comes to GST. We collect tax from customers and deposit with the government. But, when the system is not working properly, we are being penalised,” he said. Both businessmen are wishing for simpler GST especially for small traders.

However, all respondents agreed that this election is much different from the previous ones.

The city has whole lot of local issues. Though well-connected with other parts of the country, there is not much industrial activity. Kumbh did bring a lot of changes and roads are in a good shape but people still have to travel to Delhi or Lucknow for major surgeries, said Saurabh Tondon, a doctor.

Prayagraj is divided into two Lok Sabha Constituencies — Allahabad and Phulpur. Four Prime Ministers — Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Vishwanath Pratap Singh — have successfully contested from these constituencies. Presently, the BJP has sitting MP from Allahabad while the SP won the by-election from Phulpur. These two constituencies together have 10 Assembly seats, out of which eight are with the BJP and one with BJP’s ally Apna Dal.

This time, the BJP has fielded Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad. A Minister in the Yogi Government Joshi will face Rajendra Patel of the Grand Alliance (SP-BSP-RLD combined). From Phulpur, Kesri Devi Patel of the BJP ticket will take on Pandhari Yadav of Grand Alliance. Both seats will go to polls on May 12.