E-Paper
Spiti Valley: Will highest booth, with 52 voters, go from 100% to nil?
The polling station, 29km from the China border, covers two villages of Tashigang and Gete and was set up in 2019 when it had 48 voters
In 2019, the country’s highest polling station of Tashigang in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti valley adjoining the China border saw 100% turnout.
This time, if the residents of the remote village located at a height of 15,256 feet in Mandi parliamentary constituency stick to their guns, it could see 0%.
The reason: Unemployment.
“Most villagers earn a living by working as daily wagers on contract for the public works department (PWD). Some of us had been employed for seven years with the department but were suddenly rendered jobless after our contracts were terminated last year. The department says it does not have the budget to continue with the work we were hired for,” said local resident Tenzin Lhundup, who represents the workers.
Lhundup along with villagers submitted a memorandum to Lahaul and Spiti additional deputy commissioner Rahul Jain last week, seeking the administration’s intervention to ensure their means of livelihood.
“We were about 20 villagers who worked with the PWD. We have no other source of income to fend for our families,” Lhundup said.
When contacted, ADC Jain said: “I am aware of this and will take up their problem with the authorities concerned.”
The PWD comes under the state government; Himachal Pradesh is currently governed by a Congress government. Mandi is one of the four parliamentary constituencies in the state; the state goes to Lok Sabha polls in one phase on June 1. Mandi will see the Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh take on the BJP’s Kangana Ranaut.
The polling station, 29km from the China border, covers two villages of Tashigang and Gete and was set up in 2019 when it had 48 voters. Of the present population of 75, it has 52 registered voters, including 22 women.
“We are trying to convince the villagers to participate in the elections, but right now they are adamant about the boycott. After all, the issue is connected to their livelihood,” said Palzor Dolma, who heads the local Mahila Mandal.
The villagers resort to growing peas and potatoes when the cold abates but this is a seasonal venture given the harsh winter in the region, she said.
Tashigang is connected by road that is currently closed due to snow in the higher reaches . Spiti’s headquarters at Kaza has the highest number of 811 voters followed by Gulling with 544 and Rangrik with 478 voters.
Earlier, the hamlet of Hikkim at an altitude of 14,400 ft, also in Lahaul-Spiti district, was the highest polling station in the country.
