Many people do not step out of their houses to cast votes, but more than 900 Tausar villagers — working in Hyderabad — travelled 1,700 km to reach their homes on Thursday to vote in the sarpanch election.
The village, located about four km from the district headquarters, goes to the by-poll on Friday to elect a sarpanch. The poll was necessitated following death of Mishri Lal Sankhla four months ago.
“We are very excited to elect our new sarpanch. We will vote for a candidate who will convince us that he will steer the village on development path,” said Mahesh Sankhla, who works in Hyderabad. “Better drainage system, arranging English teachers for the village school are some of our demands,” he said, adding that four contenders had visited Hyderabad to woo voters.
There are 7,159 voters, including 3,474 women, in the village. Eight polling stations have been set up for the poll, an official said.
Nagaur sub-divisional magistrate P Ratiksha Pilania said for the first time, electronic voting machines would be used in a sarpanch election in the state.