Two tribal villages in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district have decided to boycott the assembly elections to be held next month. He has taken this decision alleging lack of basic facilities like drinking water and electricity supply in his area. The villages – Sardih and Bagdharidand – falling in Kerakchhar gram panchayat of Rampur assembly constituency are inhabited by Pahari Korwa, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), also known as the adopted sons of the President.
The constituency is currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Nanki Ram Kanwar. Voting will be held here on November 17 in the second phase of elections to be held in two phases in Chhattisgarh. The first phase of voting in the state will be held on November 7. Pamphlets calling for a boycott of voting have been put up in villages, while a banner with the same message has been hung on their outskirts.
Santosh, a resident of Sardih, who belongs to the Pahari Korwa community, said, ‘We have been demanding drinking water, electricity supply and mobile towers and other basic facilities for a long time, but the public representatives never paid attention to us.’ He said, the hill Korvas of Sardih, Bagdhari Dand, Khurribhauna and surrounding villages are still forced to drink water extracted by digging pits in the forest land. Santosh said that there are no roads to reach these villages.
Santosh and some women of the village told reporters, ‘Hollow promises will no longer work for the leaders. The villagers have decided to boycott voting this time as they have no other option. About 150 families of Pahari Korvas reside in the villages of Gram Panchayat Kerakchar, located in the forest area, about 20 km from Korba city. The villages are also facing the threat of elephant-human conflict. A banner put up by residents outside the villages read, ‘Voting has been boycotted in Sardih and Bagdharidand as the villages have not received electricity.’
When asked about this, Korba District Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vishwadeep said that he has received information about it and he and other officials will visit the villages to understand the issues raised by the villagers. “We will try to convince the villagers to withdraw the boycott call and urge them to participate in the election process,” he said. The IAS officer is also the nodal officer for the voter awareness program in Vishwadeep district.