Double engine fails villages in Gujarat, villagers talk of boycotting elections
Hyderabad: In what is being seen as the other side of the much-hyped double engine governance promoted by the BJP, a few villages in Gujarat have decided to boycott the forthcoming elections to press their demands, including provision of basic amenities, drinking water, roads and even crop insurance. Joining the list of villages, which boycotted […]
Hyderabad: In what is being seen as the other side of the much-hyped double engine governance promoted by the BJP, a few villages in Gujarat have decided to boycott the forthcoming elections to press their demands, including provision of basic amenities, drinking water, roads and even crop insurance.
Joining the list of villages, which boycotted elections in the past, Ahmedabad’s Nana Chiloda has decided to boycott the Assembly elections in protest against the Gujarat government’s apathy. To this effect, villagers have also put up posters and banners in the streets, according to reports. Two years ago, Nana Chiloda was a village and it was merged with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
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However, residents are still demanding sufficient drinking water, school buildings and drainage infrastructure but the requests have not seen any response from the municipal corporation, local media reports said. Interestingly, local leaders admitted about the inconvenience caused due to the delay in executing the works. Vexed with the official apathy, villagers have decided to boycott the Assembly elections.
This is not an isolated case. Villages boycotting elections, including local body, assembly and even parliamentary, has been a regular feature in the BJP-ruled Gujarat. During the 2017 Assembly elections, Gajadi village in Morbi district boycotted the first phase of polling citing the continuing water shortage in the village. Similarly, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, two villages – Bhangor in Jamnagar district and Davdahad in Dang district – boycotted the elections for different reasons.
Bhangor villagers had refrained from voting as they were upset over unpaid crop insurance and discrepancies in land mapping. Davdahad villagers boycotted the poll demanding construction of a road in the village. In Nanda village of Kutch district, only vote was registered, according to reports.
With the Election Commission of India announcing the assembly elections in Gujarat, it would be interesting to check as to how many villages would boycott the elections this time and on what demands.
All this was at a time when Telangana is bagging awards declared by the BJP-led union government for its developmental activities, sanitation and provision of basic amenities including drinking water in both rural and urban areas. This year, Telangana was ranked first in the Swachh Survekshan Grameen rankings in the Large States category under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-G). The State also bagged a rich haul of 12 awards, including Nizamabad and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts ranked first and second respectively in the Overall Top Districts category in South Zone.
This apart, 16 municipalities had won awards in Swachh Survekshan 2022 and three more Urban Local Bodies, including Alampur Municipality, Peerzadiguda Municipal Corporation and Korutla Municipality bagged awards under the Indian Swachhata League (ISL).
The State’s flagship Mission Bhagiratha was also praised on the national level, with its successful objective of ensuring drinking water to all households winning the national award as well.
