Why This Chhattisgarh Village Is Boycotting The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

JASHPUR, Chhattisgarh — The residents of a village in Chhattisgarh’s tribal-dominated Jashpur district have decided to boycott Lok Sabha polls in protest against what they claimed was lack of road and water facilities there.

Residents of Darupisa village in Dokda panchayat have put up a banner declaring their intent to skip polls scheduled in their area on April 23.

The village is part of the Kunkuri assembly segment and Raigarh (ST) Lok Sabha seat.

“Public representatives have never paid heed to our long pending demands for a connecting road and water facilities. Due to this apathy, we don’t have access to education and health facilities,” said village head Alex Toppo.

While politicians, campaigning for last year’s Assembly polls, had promised to look into their demands, they forgot about it once the elections were over, Toppo alleged.

“Tired of hollow promises, the villagers have decided to boycott Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

A banner displayed outside the village takes a dig at politicians and public representatives by proclaiming “As no development works have been done in our village, we have decided to boycott election. We as villagers are embarrassed that we could not make a road for politicians. Meet us in next election”.

Kunkuri Congress MLA UD Minj said the village will get basic facilities after the Lok Sabha polls are over, citing the model code of conduct in place since March 10.

“We will talk to villagers. Since the model code of conduct is in place, the issue of road and drinking water will be addressed after Lok Sabha polls are over,” Minj claimed.