Sirsa, May 3
A small village in Haryana appears determined to buck the trend. With low voter turn out and voters’ indifference to the general election becoming more pronounced, residents of Jallopur in Fatehabad have decided, unanimously, that every voter from the village will exercise the right to franchise on Thursday, when polling is to be held for all the 10 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
Whoever fails to show up will have to pay a token fine of Rs. 100, resolved the Gram Panchayat.
The village has a poor track record when it comes to voting. “But this time it will be different,” insists the Sarpanch, Mange Ram Godara. He went on to add, “Ours is primarily a village of dalits where 70 per cent of the population happen to be BPL (Below the Poverty Line) families. So, on election day voting has never been a priority; the daily need to earn a living overrides all other concerns.”
A graduate, Godala points out that while villagers participate in large numbers in the panchayat poll, their involvement progressively declines in Assembly polls and in the general election for the Lok Sabha. “Bigger the election, less they matter is what villagers really think,” he said. While villagers working for a living outside the village may or may not turn up on polling day, Godala is certain that most of the residents will turn up this time.
The gram panchayat has been careful about not advocating support for any party. The members have only emphasised that the village must vote and that the villagers are free to support the party of their choice. “At the meeting also, we made it plain that we could be associated with any party but the intention is only to get them out of their houses. They have every right to pick the candidate of their choice,” Godara insists.
