Month after boycott call, four villages vote under protest

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Kasauli (Kharar), February 4

About 1,500 voters from four villages of Majri block, located less than 15 km from Chandigarh, exercised their franchise today, even as they registered a protest against lack of education for their children after Class X, poor roads and no bridges. These villages had decided last month to boycott the polls.

On behalf of the panchayats of Bagindi, Karaundewala, Kasauli and Gudapind villages, Kasauli sarpanch Bhim Sain tried to hand over a memorandum to Booth-Level Officer Palwinder Singh in Government Primary School. The officer said, “Accepting any protest letter is not a part of our job, so please stay outside the polling station. And don’t click photographs.”

Karaundewala sarpanch Chhinda Singh said “Our panchayats had decided that no one would cast his vote. Soon, various political parties, including the Congress, SAD and AAP, started making a beeline to our villages, seeking votes and promising to resolve our issues immediately after the polls.”

Bhim Sain said, “Land in our villages is being grabbed by the mafia, which is patronised by politicians. We don’t trust anybody. However, being helpless, we have no option but to depend on candidates who appear to be honest.”

Their main demands include the repair of a 12-km road from Mullanpur (adjoining the PGI) to Tanda village in Haryana; a road in Bangidi village; a senior secondary school in the area; and bridges on the rivulets which cut off the villages for months during the monsoon.