“After every flood we have been facing severe communication problems as there is no pucca road to our village. A pucca road, proper drinking water and better basic facilities have been long standing demands in our area. Thousands of people here face commuting problems. As our long pending demands have not been met, we have decided to boycott the polls,” the villagers said.
The villagers pointed out in the memorandum that they had submitted at the sub-collector’s office that during monsoons they face a lot of problems as the village gets flooded by the nearby river. Many other villages of the panchayat also share the same fate during rain.
More than 400 residents of the village alleged that they face a lot of difficulties, but the road problem is the most serious as it is in a very bad shape. Many accidents have also occurred on this road. A local named Anil Kumar, lost control over his bike and both his hands were seriously injured.
However, the villagers have taken the decision at a time when the major political parties are on a full swing campaign trail for the Balasore Sadar Assembly constituency election following the announcement of the poll notification.
The angry villagers resented saying many leaders are coming to their villages for campaigning, but no one does anything. The villagers have now decided that they will vote only if a proper road is laid to their village.
Meanwhile, all major political parties have announced the names of their candidates for the by-polls in the Balasore Sadar and Tirtol Assembly seats.
It may be mentioned here that, the by-elections for the two Assembly seats (Balasore Assembly constituency and Tirtol Assembly by-poll in Jagatsinghpur district) were needed after the demise of former Balasore MLA Madan Mohan Dutta and Tirtol ex-MLA Bishnu Charan Das.