Four Gujarat villages boycott polls citing lack of development

Mehsana: The voters from four villages in Gujarat's Mehsana district boycotted the Assembly Elections in the State citing lack of development in their area.

The Becharaji Taluka Bariyaf village and Kheralu Taluka's three villages on Monday claimed that their issues have remained unresolved for decades and hence they were not participating in the voting exercise.

Till 1 p.m. not a single vote was cast in these four villages.

"For decades around half-a-dozen issues were pending, even after several reminders and personal requests nothing has been done. For example, in three decades, the Water Resources Department has certified that underground water was not drinkable, old borewells were sealed but new borewells were not developed.

"The primary school was developed in 1968, it needs regularisation and repairs. Since three terms, turn by turn each sarpanch has taken up matters with the respective authorities, but there is no result, Narmada water has not reached the village," Bariyaf Village sarpanch Raju Patel told the local media.

Patel on behalf of 1,000 villagers has stated that villagers have boycotted the voting and staged protests. "We will only vote if the Mehsana district collector promises in writing to resolve the pending issues," he said

In Kheralu Taluk, Varethna, Dalisana, and Davol villagers too have boycotted voting. Their demand was to revive the Rupen river, and fill village lakes with Narmada or other waters.

-IANS Inputs