Madhya Pradesh: Tribals turn out to vote in large numbers in Dhar

People of Bhil and Gond tribes here turned out in large numbers to exercise their constitutional right in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls on Sunday.

Nannu, a resident of Undakho village while talking to ANI said: "We have come to vote as we have to select a government. We have a lot of issues like road, water, employment. We are voting for development".

However, the villagers alleged that they have no transportation facilities to reach the polling booth and that they have to walk at least around 5-7 kms to reach the polling station.

Santu, another resident of Undakho said: "There is no transportation service provided to reach the polling booths. The roads are so bad that we cannot come on a bike too. We have to walk 6-8 kms away to reach the polling booth".

The tribals of Dhar district, who vote religiously for their representative every year despite various difficulties, are yet not blessed with the presence of any party representative that would help them address their problems.

"No political representative has come to our village to know about our problems yet," Nannu said.

The biggest problem of the people living in Dhar district is water scarcity. Villagers have to walk long distances to get water from the nearby streams. Women residents claimed that they often fall sick after drinking the water as it is very dirty.

"Water scarcity is always an issue. It's very hard to get water and the water we get by walking long distances is also very dirty. We often fall sick," Santu said.

Citing other problems, Suresh, a resident of Badiya village said: "Moreover, the school in the village is also old and the students have to travel at least 2 kms to reach there. There is no proper employment. We earn our living out of farming and labour work.