Election is the time when political parties and leaders realise the value of voters. Undoubtedly, citizens' right to vote is invoked every now and then during election campaigns.
However, it was a different story this time when at least in two villages in Kanpur Dehat region of Uttar Pradesh, people decided to boycott polls. The reason -- conspicuous absence of basic amenities in their villages, even after 70 years of independence.
Asuwapur village in the Bhognipur assembly constituency has 462 voters, as per the official records, where only one person had cast his vote. In Nagwa, another village that has 275 voters, no one came forward to exercise their right to franchise.
In both the villages, the villagers boycotted polls on issues of power, water and roads.
The villagers drew a ‘Lakshman Rekha’ in Asuwapur village on the polling day and asked fellow-villagers to not cross the line in order to prevent them from going to the polling booth. No one yielded to the repeated attempts of administrative officials to cast their votes.
The villagers even put up a banner which exhorted not to vote. After much persuasion, the officials could force only one villager to caste his vote. The village has no power, only one hand-pump for drinking water and virtually no roads.
Though contestants have repeatedly been assuring these villagers about basic facilities for the past many polls, these proved to be hollow promises.
Both the villages were part of the third phase of polling.
