Residents of over dozen Tamil Nadu villages boycott Lok Sabha elections
- In Reports
- 01:32 PM, Apr 20, 2024
- Myind Staff
Residents of at least a dozen villages in Tamil Nadu expressed their protest against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government by opting to boycott the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
In Ekanapuram village in Kanchipuram district, a majority of the locals refrained from voting. They have been engaged in protests for over 600 days against the state's plan to construct a second airport in Parandur.
“Out of the 1,400 votes in Ekanapuram, only 21 people – who are government staff – voted. No resident and no farmer voted in this election,” said RL Elango leading the protests.
“The government has turned a deaf ear against our concerns for more than 600 days. Soon after election dates were announced, we decided to boycott the elections. Even the 18 people (senior citizens and people with disabilities) who had chosen postal votes refused to vote,” he said.
The DMK government has put forth a proposal for a second greenfield airport in Parandur to complement the existing international airport in Chennai. This project requires land acquisition from Ekanapuram and its neighbouring villages. The government had earlier stated that they would offer compensation amounting to 3.5 times the market rate, along with providing alternative housing land and a government job for each affected family member due to the land acquisition.
However, the villagers have opposed the proposal, arguing that it would result in the loss of their agricultural lands. Environmentalists have also voiced concerns about potential disruption to water bodies.
Meanwhile, villagers of Vengaivayal in Pudukottai district are angry over police inaction in a case where they haven’t identified culprits who mixed human faces in an overhead tank way back in December 2022. This tank supplies water to a residential locality where only Dalits live. More than 60 Dalit families boycotted the polls and erected black flags atop their houses.
Residents of at least four villages under the Muthanai village panchayat in Cuddalore district chose to boycott the elections due to the absence of basic facilities such as drinking water, bitumen roads, and transportation services. Similarly, individuals from Puthiya Nambiyar village in Nagapattinam protested against the delay in resolving their water issues and opted not to participate in the voting process. Additionally, approximately 500 Dalit families in Mothakkal village in Tiruvannamalai district abstained from voting due to the lack of essential amenities.
In Tiruvallur district, residents of Kumararajipettai village boycotted the polls due to their dissatisfaction with a government project that led to the demolition of two temples. Despite efforts by election officials and police to persuade them, the villagers remained steadfast in their decision not to vote. The election office in Tamil Nadu did not issue any response regarding these boycotts.
Image source: PTI
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