VARANASI: Lamhi and Shivdaspur encapsulate two extremes of Varanasi's progressive and profane sides brought alive by electoral politics. Lamhi, the village where noted Hindi writer Premchand was born, has now merged with the city. Shivdaspur is within the city. Just a few hundred metres away from where Bhakti saint Kabir was found abandoned, a narrow street leads to the city's red light area where hundreds of sex workers toil by the night and rest during the day.

At the mouth of Lamhi stands Premchand's Memorial and the house he built to avoid getting ostracized for marrying Shivrani Devi, a widow. The leafy courtyard of the Premchand Memorial is where electoral politics of the village is discussed and, at times, it turns acrimonious.

The village of Muslims, brahmians, kayasthas and patels wants a change and is even ready to go with Modi, but the burden of being progressive, imposed on it by its most famous son, has split the village almost vertically.

Suresh Chandra Dubey, head of Premchand Memorial and a raconteur of sorts, admits there is a mood for change. "BJP is promising history will change if Modi becomes PM. We want change and it looks possible," he says. But others in the village, which has nearly 2,000 voters, are not so forthcoming. "AAP has knocked on each door. Their volunteers spent the night under the tree and won our hearts," says Mohd Hasib.

The sex workers of Shivdaspur are not quite as articulate as the Lahmi villagers. Trafficked, sold and resold, these women lead a hard life. They had no documents, till Guria, an NGO, fought to get them voter I-cards. Since the last election, they have been waiting for parties to hear them.

Mini (name changed), sold as an eight-year-old and now in her 30s, was surprised when one afternoon some volunteers knocked on her door. "I had not heard of this party but soon we gathered it was AAP. They were very respectful. No other party came till yesterday. On Wednesday, one of our pimps told us to vote for BJP.

AAP promises us respect," she says, looking at Anisha, a social worker who is a daughter of a sex worker. Anisha goes to college, teaches children of other sex workers and wears an AAP cap, asking others to join the bandwagon.