Red tape keeps villagers away from poll booth

The polling station in Koling village in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar wore a deserted look on Monday: Not a single vote was cast at this centre.

The voter silence in the red zone, or Naxalite stronghold, was not because the rebels had given a call to boycott the election. The villagers decided to keep away from voting as the authorities had failed to address basic problems of water and electricity in the past five years.

“We decided to boycott the election in 2008 but gave up the stand following assurances from authorities,” said village sarpanch Pandruram. But nothing has been done yet, he added.

About two months ago, the villagers had submitted a memorandum to the district administration seeking permission to boycott the poll. “The authorities talked to the villagers and began work on what they had demanded,” said district collector Ankit Anand.

However, the electoral code of conduct came into effect and the work had to be stopped.

The village, 60 km from Bastar’s district headquarters of Jagdalpur, falls under the Jagdalpur Assembly constituency. About 1,300 people in the village are eligible to exercise their franchise.

But no one turned up till 3 pm — the deadline for voting in Naxal-affected areas. After that, polling officials sealed the electronic voting machine and left.