Residents of at least seven villages in Gujarat completely or partially boycotted voting in the Lok Sabha elections Tuesday over unfulfilled demands from the government, officials said. While three villages — Kesar in Bharuch, Sanadhara in Surat and Bhakhari in Banaskantha — completely boycotted voting, the villagers in Bhatgam of Junagadh district, Rabarika in Bhavnagar, and Bodoli and Punjara in Mahisagar district partially stayed away from the voting process, according to a statement from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), According to PTI, as per Election Commission (EC) report, none of the 320 voters in Sanadhara village that falls under Bardoli Lok Sabha seat voted over outstanding issues even as the local poll administration and representatives of parties tried to persuade them to vote. In Bhakhari village of Banaskantha, residents boycotted elections demanding a separate gram panchayat, said district Collector Varunkumar Baranwal. "The villagers did not communicate their intentions earlier, but this morning they demanded a separate gram panchayat. We tried to assure them that we will make necessary correspondence to the government but they insisted on making it today itself which was not possible," Baranwal told The Indian Express. Currently, the village is under a group panchayat with the neighbouring Hamirpur. The village had 377 voters. Around 350 voters in Kesar village of Bharuch also remained adamant on their decision to not cast their votes as their demand for a bridge on Kim Creek was not fulfilled. This was the fourth election they were boycotting. “We had earlier boycotted elections to the taluka panchayat, district, panchayat, and the Assembly (in 2022). Our village falls under the group gram panchayat. During monsoon, as the water level in the creek rises, students from our village have to travel 15 km to reach the neighbouring Itkala village high school," said village resident Vasava Punitbhai. Similarly, residents of Rabarika village in Bhavnagar under Amreli constituency did not vote for about six hours after their demands for drinking and irrigation water and better roads, among others, remained unfulfilled. Eventually, a few residents voted after government officials rushed to the remote village and persuaded them. “People were boycotting polling till noon. We got in touch with the Collector and SP of Bhavnagar, and local officials went to the village to persuade the villagers. Eventually, the polling started at 12.30 pm,” said Ajay Dahiya, Amreli Collector and returning officer of the seat. Rabarika falls under the Savarkundla Assembly segment and has around 410 registered voters. Villagers said they had been making representations to the government for eight months regarding shortage of drinking and irrigation water, poor condition of roads, and issues pertaining to land records. “We also demand that Rabarika be made part of Savarkundla taluka of Amreli again,” said sarpanch Harsh Vinchhiya. Jesar taluka was created in 2015 and Rabarika, which was earlier a part of Savarkundla taluka, was included in it. Vipul Devmurari, Jesar’s taluka development officer who was among the government officials who went to the village after the boycott, said it has been decided to make a fresh proposal to include Rabarika in SAUNI Yojana. Similar civic issues bother the residents of Bhatgam village in Junagadh. “For a month, we have not got Narmada water for drinking purposes and the water in a local well is salty. Secondly, approach roads connecting our village with the rest of the district are in very poor shape. Repeated representations to local government officers have fallen on deaf ears,” Ram Solanki, elder brother of village sarpanch Kamlesh Solanki said, adding, “Out of 1,047 registered voters, only 16 voted.” The village falls under the Porbandar constituency from where Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is the BJP candidate. Solanki added that despite their protests during the Lok Sabha polling, no officer contacted them. “Around 4 pm, some BJP workers came and assured us that our problems will be solved. We thanked them, but told them it was too late in the day. If they manage to solve our problems, we will vote in the next election." In Bodoli and Kunjara polling stations under Balasinor gram panchayat, a majority of the population did not vote over a dumping site that has been functional near the village. Until 3 pm, Bodoli saw only 34 of the 790 votes being polled, while in Kunjara only three of the 734 voters voted.
