3 villages boycott poll over unmet demands

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Balawas (Hisar), May 12

Residents of Balawas stuck to their boycott call in the elections as of the 1,650 voters in the village, only 14 cast their vote on Sunday. They were upset with the administration over various issues, including dispute over a common land and water shortage

Residents of Sasrana village in the Barwala region also boycotted the elections. Of around 1,300 voters, only 12 exercised their franchise. Village panchayat member Prahalad Singh said they had boycotted the polls to protest the shifting of the village from the Barwala administrative block to Narnaund administrative block. 

In Khatkar village of Jind district, one of the two booths boycotted the polls. Residents alleged that their localities had been facing water shortage for many years. Sarpanch Balkar Singh said he tried to reason with the agitated villagers but they remained adamant. None of the 858 voters registered on booth number 209 in the village turned up to cast their vote. 

Enraged over the apathy of the administration and political parties, the villagers, led by sarpanch Suresh Kumar, gathered at the bus stop along the Hisar-Tosham road in the morning. The polling booths which were located about 500 metres away from the dharna site wore a deserted look throughout the day. 

The village sarpanch said a panchayat department official came to them for a dialogue, but the villagers refused to cast vote. 

2 Bhakli booths draw a blank  

Rohtak: Residents of the Bhakli panchayat did not cast their vote at two of the three booths set up in the village to register their protest against the state government for not fulfilling their demands. Though the gram panchayat had announced to boycott polling at all three booths, some voters did exercise their franchise at booth no.14. There were more than 2,000 votes at booth no.12 and 13. “We spent time completing paper formalities in both the booths as no one turned up to vote. The village sarpanch and other villagers were roaming outside the booths,” said a polling official. tns