Maoists' call: an entire village in Chhattisgarh chooses not to vote

Sukma: In Chhattisgarh, an entire village chose not to cast their vote on Friday, when the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls 2024 was done. The village, identified as Puvarti, is the native place of a hardcore Maoist leader. However, in the Bastar constituency of the state, where boycott calls were issued by Maoists, locals defied calls and appeared to vote, PTI reported.

Puvarti is in the Sukma district of the state and is the native place of the dreaded Naxalite leader Hidma. Hidma is accused of several deadly attacks on security forces in the Bastar region.

In Bastar, a voter turnout of 67.56 per cent was recorded on Friday.

Booth Level Officer (BLO) of Puvarti polling booth Java Patel said, "No voters from Puvarti village exercised their voting right during polling on Friday."

Some officials claimed that the villagers did not cast their votes out of fear.

The Puvarti polling booth (No. 4), meant for voters of three villages - Puvarti, Tekalgudiyam and Jonaguda - was set up in Silger village, around 20-25 km away from Puvarti.

The official said there were 332 voters from Puvarti, 158 from Tekalgudiyam and 157 from Jonaguda- a total of 547 voters- to cast their vote in the Puvarti booth. A total of 31 voters cast their votes at the Puvarti polling booth, but none of them were from Puvarti village and were from Tekalgudiyam and Jonaguda, he said.

Jagargunda area committee of Maoists had put up banners in Puvarti in adjoining villages, appealing to people to boycott polls.

Puvarti is the home village of the former commander of Maoists' PLGA (people's liberation guerilla army) Battalion Number 1 Hidma and incumbent commander Barse Deva.