Villagers of Dadighaghar in Ichak block have decided to boycott the election to protest the lack of a proper road connecting it to the block headquarters or Hazaribagh town.
Villagers said chief minister Raghubar Das had laid the foundation of a road project when he was in Hazaribagh town on September 10, 2016, but the construction work never began.
Fed up with the false promises, the villagers led by mukhiya Suman Singh Bhokta met on Sunday evening and decided to boycott the election on December 12.
Dadighaghar is part of Barkatha Assembly seat and falls under Koderma parliamentary constituency.
Talking to The Telegraph on Monday, the mukhiya said election was the opportune time to raise their voices against the government’s
failure to give a road to the
village.
A slushy path dotted with puddles is what the villagers have to make do with.
“This village was once a hotbed of extremism. But now it has been able to shed that tag with the youths surrendering arms and joining the mainstream. However, the government has failed us. It has not been able to build a road for us,” she said.
Suman said the village had 3,700 voters and their decision to stay away from the election process would prompt the officials to visit this place.
“The block officials have contacted me and reiterated their promise of a road once the new government was sworn into power. Par ab vishwas karne ka man nahi karta hi (now we don’t feel like relying on them),” she added.
One of the villagers, Rajendra Ganjhu, said in the absence of the road, it would be difficult to reach the polling booth that was situated 7km away. “This village is surrounded by forests and streams. Just imagine, how tough it is for us to go anywhere without a proper road! Before elections, politicians come asking for votes and promise to look into the issue if they assume power. But after winning, they never visit us even once,” he said.
Villagers said the block officials had urged them not to boycott the polls. “We told them that we won’t change our decision unless deputy commissioner Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh visits us and gives an assurance that the road would be built soon. Ab yeh ladai tab take jaari rahegi jab tak road ban nahi jaata (we will continue the agitation till the road is built),” one of the villagers said.
