Madhya Pradesh: Descendant of Birbal, advisor to King Akbar, wishes for PM Modi to get third term

Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 18 (ANI): Descendants of Birbal, who was the advisor to Mughal King Akbar and was known for his wit, have expressed their wish that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would get a third term.

Birbal, whose original name was Mahesh Das, was born in Ghoghara village, located around 50 kilometres away from Sidhi district headquarters and his descendants are still living here. Sidhi is all geared up to undergo polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Friday.

A descendant of Birbal, Gangaram Dubey, who is a farmer and also a priest performs marriages pujas in the village, told ANI, "We are the 14th descendants of Birbal. When Chandels used to rule, our descendants came to Madhya Pradesh from Banaras because there was terror of the kings in Banaras at that time. They settled here in Ghoghara Village in the district."
Expressing satisfaction over the works of the previous tenures of PM Modi, Dubey said that various development works were done in his village in the last 10 years.

"There has been a lot of development in this village by the government in the last ten years. Dharamshala, houses, paved roads, community toilets, school, Birbal community building etc. were built in the village. Today's politics is very good, today development is happening everywhere and everyone is happy. If the government is formed for the third time after the elections, then there should be more development here as well as in the country. There are about 2000 families in this village in which people of all castes and religions live together here," he added.
Besides, there is a years-old Ghoghra Devi temple in the village and it is said that Birbal used to worship in the temple.
Priest of Ghoghra temple, Shatrudhan Tiwari told ANI, "Our ancestors were great devotees of Ghoghra Devi and were priest here. They used to say that Birbal also used to worship here in this temple."
Meanwhile, speaking about development in the village, Tiwari also showed his trust for the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government saying there has been development of every section of the society in his area.
"The current government is good and it is developing our village. There has been a lot of development in this village in the last 10 years. People of all castes and every section of society have developed. My wife receives the benefit of the state govt's Ladli Bahna Yojana. Everyone is getting the benefits of all the developments and schemes here," Tiwari added.
A woman who runs a sugarcane shop in the village, Tersi Bhujwa said that the situation of the village has changed in the last 10 years. Along with the development, crime against women has also stopped here.
"10 years ago, the situation in the village was bad. Earlier, women and girls used to be treated unfairly. Looting and molestation used to happen but now all this does not happen. There has been a lot of development in the village. Digital payment mode has reached here. There are toilets for women, roads, electricity and schools are there in the village so that children do not have to go far. There is a lot of hope from the current government. If it repeats for the third time, there will be more development in the village," she added.
Sidhi along with five other parliamentary seats in the state - Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara - will go to the polls in the first phase of polling tomorrow, April 19.
Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted in four phases. Polling will also be held in the state on April 26, May 7 and May 13. The votes will be counted on June 4.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation. Out of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved. (ANI)