Phulpur in Allahabad district is a qasba, a very small town defined by its market. But not just any qasba. It is the place that gives the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat its name, the seat from where Jawaharlal Nehru used to contest. While Amethi, Rae Bareilly and Sultanpur are Gandhi family strongholds, the domination of regional “caste” parties in Phulpur shows how the forces of Mandalisation have left the Congress and later, the BJP, behind in UP politics. Nehru won fro