Come polls, a new village power structure influences voters in Chhattisgarh

a coterie of village-level functionaries become 'contractors' for political parties in Chattisgarh. For the right price, they will regulate the discourse and even corral residents to show up for publi

Kokadi (Raipur, Chhattisgarh): Less than a hundred kilometres from Chhattisgarh’s capital, a firman has been issued in Kokadi, a village of less than 2,000 people. All residents have to attend the Govardhan Puja a day after Diwali. Everything else now takes a back seat for the villagers. Attendance is compulsory and assigned functions have to be performed. No one goes to work – either as hired labour or in her own ripened paddy field. Any transgression by an individual or family is at the cost of being ostracised by the rest of the community.

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