Residents of Tapu Majri village in Yamunanagar district and Sundarpura village in Jind, which fall under the Ambala and Hisar Lok Sabha seats respectively, on Saturday observed a complete boycott of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Tapu Majri residents have been demanding the construction of a bridge over Yamuna for better access with the district, as they currently have to commute several km to reach the district headquarter or other areas.
According to the district election office, only one of the around 500 voters exercised their right to franchise.
The decision to boycott the voting goes back to April 7, when the villagers held a panchayat and threatened to boycott the elections if the state government did not act on their demand. It was also decided that they would also boycott the Haryana assembly elections, voting for which is likely to be held in October.
Sarpanch Arun Kumar said the village is located on the Uttar Pradesh side of the Yamuna river and falls under the jurisdiction of Yamunanagar district, due to which residents have to travel through UP for work, education, hospital and other needs in the town.
“We have been demanding construction of a bridge over Yamuna river between Bhogpur and Tapu Majri village for several years. We have been doing this for nearly a decade, our ancestors did this since Independence, but not to avail. As the hospitals are too far, at least five patients have died before reaching,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“We have been demanding construction of a bridge over Yamuna river between Bhogpur and Tapu Majri village for several years. We have been doing this for nearly a decade, our ancestors did this since Independence, but not to avail. As the hospitals are too far, at least five patients have died before reaching,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}As the news spread, officials of the panchayat department reached to pacify the voters, followed by the deputy commissioner (DC) and superintendent of police.
DC Captain Manoj Kumar said, “Ahead of their voting, several meetings have been held with the villagers, but they were adamant to do so. They demanded that they will only vote after a tender is floated for the flyover. However, the proposal is already with the government and there can’t be any decision due to the model code of conduct.”
Superintendent of police (SP) Ganga Ram Punia said adequate police force was deployed to deal with any law and order situation.
The residents of Sundarpura village in Jind, meanwhile, accused the state government of not fulfilling their demand of shifting their tehsil from Uchana to Narwana, which was closer and more accessible..
Jind DC Mohammad Imran Raza and SP Sumit Kumar visited the village to convince the residents to cast their votes, but their appeals were turned down as well.
(With inputs from Rohtak.)