No Road, No Vote: Dozens Of Villages In Uttarakhand Look To Teach Politicians A Lesson For Their Non-Performance

Many villagers across the hill state of Uttarakhand have threatened to boycott the polls due to delay in construction of pukka roads to their respective villages, reports Times of India.

According to the report, the boycott indicates the significance of the motorable road in the hills as it is the only means of connectivity for villages in remote areas.

The Sayuni Malli village in Chamoli district of the state has around 700 residents who have for the past 19 years been demanding a six-km-long road. The foundation stone for the road construction project was finally laid in November 2017 by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, but the process has since been stuck in bureaucratic red-tape.

The upset villagers have reportedly put up posters at the village’s entrance asking politicians to stay out as residents have decided to boycott the polls.

On the other hand, nine villages in Tehri district’s Jaupur block - Sartali, Kason, Ghandiyala, Kanda Pali, Kuna, Kandiyana, Timliya gaon and Ranogi - staged a protest on Wednesday (20 March) alleging they too will boycott the upcoming polls.

“We have been demanding a motorable road to our villages for more than two decades but nobody has taken note of our demands. Therefore, around 1,800 voters of our area have decided to boycott the polls this time, ” said Anil Panwar, a resident of Kandiyana gaon, reported TOI.

Similarly, over 2,000 villagers of Khatola village in Udham Singh Nagar district of Kumaon have decided to boycott the polls over non-construction of a 1.5-km dilapidated road connecting their village with the main road.

As per the report, around 8,000 villages from over 12 mandals in Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Almora districts of Kumaon region of the state had, a few days ago, submitted memoranda announcing poll boycotts to their respective district magristrates due to non-fulfillment of various promises, roads being one of them.