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Ballia (Bhojpuri: बलिया, Hindi: बलिया) is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of the Ganges and the Ghaghara. The city is situated 76 KM from Ghazipur and 150 KM from Varanasi.

Bhojpuri, a dialect of Hindi, is the primary local language.

Ballia is also known as Baghi Ballia (Rebel Ballia) for its significant contribution in India's freedom struggle. During the first Independence War of India in 1857, Ballia came in picture in front of the world and Shree Mangal Pandey was that first freedom fighter of that war who was born in village Nagwa Ballia district of India.^[1] During the Quit India Movement of 1942 Ballia gained independence from British rule for a short period of time when the district overthrew the government and installed an independent administration under Chittu Pandey.

History[link]

Ballia is an ancient city. Many great saints and sages of India had their ashrams in Ballia, including Valmiki, Bhrigu, Durvasa, Parashara muni and Jamadagni. Ballia was a part of the Kosala Kingdom in ancient times. It also came under the Buddhist influence for some time. Earlier the district was a part of Ghazipur district, but later it was created as an independent District.

Sahatwar, Sheikhpur, Sikanderpur, Masumpur, Ibrahimpatti of Koth and Awayan are also very old villages in Ballia, populated during the reign of Feroze Shah Tughlaq where famous Muslim saints came and inhabited the area and served Muslims and non-Muslim alike.^{[citation needed]}

Origin of the name Ballia[link]

The origin of the name Ballia, has long been a matter of dispute. It is locally said to have been derived from the name of the sage Valmiki, the celebrated Hindu poet and the author of Ramayana, whose having resided here was commemorated by a shrine, which has long been washed away. Another belief about the origin of the name is that it has been derived from the sandy nature of the land of the place, locally known as "Ballua" (balu meaning sand).other view is that it has been named after being capital state owned by king bali who was famous for generous nature who has given up his kindom and body to lard vishnu in banam incarnation.it was initially named as 'balian', later transformed to ballia.^[2]

Geography[link]

Ballia is located at 25°27′N 84°06′E / 25.45°N 84.10°E / 25.45; 84.10.^[3] The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of the Ganges and the Ghaghara.

Demographics[link]

At the 2001 Indian census,^[4] Ballia had a population of 102,226. Males constituted 54% of the population and females 46%. It had an average literacy rate of 65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, with 58% of the males and 42% of females literate. Eleven percent of the population was under six years of age.

Transportation[link]

The Ganga Expressway terminates in Ballia which starts in Noida.

Ballia is a station on the Broad Gage Indian Railways^[5] with about 35 trains daily (including Rajdhani express)^[6] Major railway stations include Belthara Road and Rasra. Belthara Road is connected with Gorakhpur by many trains like Dadar Express, Chauri Chaura Express, Gorakhnath Express etc. Road connectivty from Varansi-to-Ballia and Gorakhpur-to-Ballia is very good. It takes about 4 hours by road from Varansi to Ballia. The road passes through Gazhipur district then small towns like Nagra, Sikanderpur then Ballia.

Road roundabouts[link]

Many road roundabouts in Ballia feature statues of leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. See for example This photo of Chandrashekhar Azad statue

Dadri Mela (fair)[link]

Dadri Mela is the second largest cattle fair of India which is located at 5 KM from Ballia town nearby NH 19 and 3 KM from Bus station of Ballia city.[4][5] The fair starts on full moon of Kartik Poornima (October–November) with Holy dip in Ganges. This fair is held annually in the honour of Dadar Muni, the disciple of Maharishi Bhrigu.^[7][8]

This fair is celebrated for more than one month and is organized in two phases. The first phase starts before 10 days of Kartik Poornima in which traders bring some excellent hybrids of cattle from across India for sale/purchase. On or after Kartik Poornima, various cultural programs are organized and one can find shops of different items at one stop during the next Fortnight.^[7][8]

Notable places[link]

Notable temples:

• Maharshi Bhrigu Mandir in the heart of the city
• Jangli baba temple - 16 km from Ballia in Garwar.
• Shri Baleshwer Mandir
• Habib Manzil
• Chain Ram Baba mandir is in Sahatwar
• Nath Baba temple at rasara.
• Panchmandir at village Sahatwar.
• Sri Sahajanand Baba Dev Sthan at village Chandpur at the bank of holy river Saryu (25 KM North-East from Ballia City)
• Narhari Das Kuti (Temple) - Guru of famous Poet Tulsi Das in Sitabdiyara
• Shri Jangli Baba Mandir (Temple) place at Garwar (Fair of Dhanteras before one day Diwali)
• Hanuman Mandir, 4 KM from Ballia city.
• Parashurama Temple in Maniyar (Only few temples of Parashurama)
• Pachrukha Devi Temple, Gaighat (Reoti), Ballia (U.P.) Situated in west side of the village near P.D. Inter college on the main road)
• Kameshwar Nath Dham (Shiv Mandir), Karon, Ballia (U.P.)
• Mata Kapilashweri Bhwani Mandir (Temple), Near Sager Pali, Ballia (UP)
• Shahid Smarak, Sukhpura is dedicated to our freedom fighters and situated beside the Sukhpura Inter College's entrance.

^{[Please discuss here before adding more names]}

Area villages[link]

• Aamghat Village is 7.7 km far from its District Main City Ballia.
• A village called Majhuan (24 km far from Ballia city) . It is situated on the bank of the Ganges river.
• Shivpur Diar Nai Basti (Bayashi) village which is having 20 thousand population with 90% literacy and 7 km far from Ballia.^{[citation needed]}
• A village named Akhar famous for its wrestlers located 6 km East from Ballia town.
• A village named Dubhar village which is having 30 thousand population with 40% literacy and 9 km far from Ballia.famous for its literacy .
• A village named Khejuri is located 15 KM from Ballia.
• Bansdih located 18 KM far from Ballia. It is having population more than 50,000.

^{[Please discuss here before adding more names]}

Notable Personalities of Ballia[link]

• Mangal Pandey^[9]
• Chittu Pandey^[9]
• Hazari Prasad Dwivedi^[9]
• Jayaprakash Narayan^[9]
• Chandra Shekhar Singh - 9TH Prime Minister of India
• Murli Manohar - Politician^[10]
• Dr.Ganesh Prasad^[11] - Mathematician
• Kedarnath Singh - Hindi poet
• Dr. Sandeep Pandey - Ramon-Magsasy Award Winner, Social Activist and Founder of "Asha for Education"
• Janeshwar Mishra(Chhote Lohiya) - Politician
• Dr. Janardan Chaturvedi - Translated Shrimad Bhagvat Geeta into Bhojpuri (regional language of eastern U.P. and Bihar) called "Janardan Geeta".
• Anand Swroop Verma- A Senior Journalist

Geographic features[link]

Suraha Tal Lake. Its circumference is about 25.6 km.^{[citation needed]} Junction of Ganges and the Ghaghara rivers mark the eastern boundary of Ballia. The fairgrounds is at this point.

^{[Please discuss here before adding more names]}

Education[link]

Major Educational Institutions:

• Holy Cross School, Amritpali, Ballia(U.P)
• SPDRD Inter collage Bahuara Bigahi Ballia(U.P)^[12]
• St. Xavier's School - Dharahara, Ballia (U.P.)
• Sacred Heart School, Sahraspali, Ballia (U.P.)^[13]
• Town Polytechnic, Tikhampur Road, Ballia (U.P)
• Naga ji Saraswati Vidya Mandir Maldepur, Ballia (UP)
• Shri Jangli Baba Inter College (JBIC), Garwar, Ballia (UP)
• Bansi Bazar Inter College (BBIC), Navanagar, Ballia (UP)
• Pachrukha Devi Inter College (PDIC), Gaighat (Reoti), Ballia (U.P.)
• Modern Convent School, Gaighat (Reoti), Ballia (U.P.). This is 22 years old school and established in 1989.
• Indian Institute of Hardware Technology Limited, Station Malgodam Road, Ballia (U.P.)^[14]
• Oracle Institute of Management & Information Technology, Sankat Mochan Colony, Civil Lines, Ballia (U.P.)^[15]
• Kunwar Singh Degree College, Ballia (U.P.)
• Satish Chandra Degree College, Ballia (U.P.)
• Murli Manohar Town Degree College, Ballia (U.P.)
• Gandhi Degree College in Mirdha village, Ballia (U.P.)^[16]
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ballia (U.P.)^[17]
• Gyan Peethika Sr. Sec. School, Zeerabasti, Ballia (U.P.)
• MG Inter College, Dalan Chhapra, Ballia (U.P.)
• Sukhpura Inter College, Sukhpura, Ballia (U.P)
• Sri Haribansa Baba Inter College, Pur, Ballia (U.P.)
• Ratsar Inter College, Ratasar, Ballia (U.P.)
• Sri Ram Baba Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Akwari-Bisukia, Ballia (U.P.)
• Sri Swaminath Singh Surendara Mahavidyalya Mahathapar, Ballia (U.P.

^{[Please discuss here before adding more names]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ballia.

• Official Website
• ballia directory

Rahul Gandhi
Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Chairperson of IYC and NSUI
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Personal details
Born	(1970-06-19) 19 June 1970 (age 42) New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Relations	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother) Priyanka Vadra (sister)
Residence	New Delhi, India
Alma mater	Rollins College Trinity College, Cambridge
Profession	Member of Parliament
As of 5 June, 2011

Rahul Gandhi ([ˈraːɦʊl ˈɡaːnd̪ʱiː]; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency.^[1] Gandhi is the general-secretary of the Indian National Congress.^[2] He is the grandson of Feroze Gandhi and Indira (née Nehru) Gandhi, and fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Early life and career[link]

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 ^[3] as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister.^[4]

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi^[5] before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's alma mater,^[6] from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then.^[7] Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations.^[8] In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE^[9] during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994.^[10] During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies.^[8][11] He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995.^[12] After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London.^[13] In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.^[14]

Political career[link]

In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by announcing that he would contest the May 2004 elections, standing for his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament.^[15] The seat had been held by his mother until she transferred to the neighbouring seat of Rae Bareilly. The Congress had been doing poorly in Uttar Pradesh, holding only 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state at the time.^[16] At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population^[17] In his first interview with foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions.^[15]

He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.^[18] Until 2006 he held no other office.^[19]

Gandhi and his sister, who is married to Robert Vadra, managed their mother's campaign for re-election to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.^[20]

He was a prominent figure in the Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes.^[21]

Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat.^[22] In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.^[23]

In 2008, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily mentioned “Rahul-as-PM” idea when the PM of India Manmohan Singh was still abroad.^[24]

Youth politics[link]

In his attempt to prove himself as a youth leader in November 2008 he held interviews at his 12, Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi to handpick at least 40 people who will make up the think-tank of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), an organisation that he has been keen to transform since he was appointed general secretary in September 2007.^[25]

Under Rahul Gandhi, IYC and NSUI has seen a dramatic increase in members from a two lakhs to twenty five lakhs.^[26]

In various reports it has been proved that Rahul Gandhi has failed in his promise to eliminate family, patronage, money from Youth Congress. It has been seen that an aspiring delegates need to pay a substantial sum as nomination fee. Hence, an aspiring office-bearer with deep pockets sponsors them thereby allowing money power to have a role in the elections.^[27][28][29]

2009 elections[link]

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constituency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi.^[30] He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.

Lokpal bill[link]

Rahul Gandhi opines that the Lokpal should be made a constitutional body and it should be made accountable to the Parliament, just like the Election Commission. He also feels that Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption. This statement came out on 25 August 2011, on the 10th day of Anna Hazare's fast. This statement was considered as a delaying tactic by the opposition and Team Anna's members. It was consequently slammed by prominent opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.^[31] The Parliamentary Standing Committee led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi tabled the Lok Bill report in the Rajya Sabha on 9 December 2011. Almost all points proposed by Team Anna were ignored while Rahul Gandhi's wish for Lokpal to be made into a constitutional body was implemented. Anna Hazare believes that Rahul Gandhi is responsible for the weak and ineffective bill proposed by the standing committee of parliament.^[32]

Land Acquisition Protests Arrest[link]

On 11 May 2011 Rahul Gandhi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police at Bhatta Parsaul village after he turned out in support of agitating farmers demanding more compensation for their land being acquired for a highway project.^[33] He was released after being held for about three hours and later returned to New Delhi. He was to be presented before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate on 12 May 2011.^[34]

2012 Assembly elections[link]

Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the 2012 Assembly elections, especially in the highly politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the hope that his popularity would help bring Congress back to power. However, the party did very poorly in the elections winning only 38 seats, a meagre increase of six seats from the 2007 elections^[35]. The Samajwadi Party and its new leader, Akhilesh Yadav swept the elections in UP, and Mr Yadav was sworn as the youngest Chief Minister of UP. The Congress party suffered humiliating defeats in other states (Goa and Punjab), and a close shave in Uttarahakhand. With only one win in the state of Manipur, the Indian press was quick to question the future of Mr Gandhi as the leader of the Congress party.^[36]

Political and legal issues[link]

Comparison of RSS and SIMI[link]

Rahul Gandhi has been critical of nationalist groups like the RSS and compared them to terrorist organizations like SIMI.^[37][38] According to a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in 2009, he allegedly shared concerns with the American ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups may pose a bigger threat to India than Islamic terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba.^[39][40] His comments on radical Hindu groups were criticized by the opposition party, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[41]

Sukanya Devi[link]

It has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi had detained a girl and her parents since 2007 after the family accused the Gandhi scion of raping the girl. On 01st Mar 2011, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi,^[42] however the allegations were found to be false. Allahabad high court not only dismissed the case after the girl in question appeared in the court, but slapped a 50 lakh penalty against the petitioner ordering a CBI inquiry against her and websites publishing the story.^[43]

13th Jul 2011 Terror Attack remarks[link]

On 14th Jul 2011, a day after the serial bombing in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi gave a statement that "it was very difficult to stop every single terror attack". The remark resulted in a number of strong criticism from a number of Shiv Sena party members.^[44]

See also[link]

• Political Families of The World

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rahul Gandhi

• Profile at BBC News
• Profile at Govt. of India website
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The Times of India