The local legislator, Ganesh Lodhi, who belongs to Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, was last seen here only during campaigning for the April-May general elections.

Asked how a big village like Tera was without artificial irrigation facilities despite being in Sonia Gandhi's constituency - widely known to be among the best looked after constituencies - village head Ram Bharose remarked, 'I also fail to understand, but fact remains that Soniaji has never even visited this village.'

The only government tubewell in the village remains under the exclusive de facto control of a powerful and influential individual, whom none could muster up the courage to name in front of this correspondent.

And the minor canal system that is well in place in several parts of Rae Bareli is also not visible in this area that borders yet another drought-hit district, Unnao.

According to Uttar Pradesh's principal agriculture secretary Rohit Nandan, 'Rae Bareli is among the state's worst hit districts where more than 50 percent of the cultivable area remains unsown on account of the dry spell.'

'Even across the state, officials are now not expecting anything beyond 50 percent of the originally expected kharif yield of 130 lakh (13 million) tonnes,' Nandan told a visiting IANS correspondent.

Ram Bharose also pointed out that a large number of villagers living in abject poverty have been denied Below the Poverty Line (BPL) cards that entitle them to some quantity of free rations.

Even the much-hyped National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) does not seem enough to provide respite to the drought-hit population of Rae Bareli.

(Sharat Pradhan can be contacted at sharat.p@ians.in)