Villagers boycott poll in Himachal as govt failed to find solution to frequent floods

The voters of a village on the Sino-India border in Himachal Pradesh have boycotted the Lok Sabha poll as the government "failed" to find a permanent solution to frequent floods they face.

Located at an altitude of 10,000 feet and around 350 km from state capital Shimla, voters at Geu village in Lahaul and Spiti district said they had been demanding their resettlement but their demands remained unheard.

"We have to take the decision as none of the governments have found a permanent solution to frequent floods due to a nearby nullah," a villager said.

According to the district election office, there are 167 voters registered at the village and none of them have voted so far.

The district officials and election staff is in the village to persuade them to withdraw the boycott and exercise their franchise.

Only five votes have been cast at the Geu polling station, that too were cast by the poll staff, a district spokesperson said.

The five members of the poll staff do not belong to the village but they cast their votes on the basis of election duty certificates issued to them by AROs concerned, he added.