From afar the hilltop village of Nava Mota looks picturesque. Trudge up and you realise that half of the 150-odd houses are empty: Roof-high fences of dry, thorny shrubs encircle them, running right against the walls to discourage thieves and the thresholds are barricaded with cots.The only people left in the village are some women and old men. With scanty rain, the crop — tuver, maize, lentils — has failed in the region. The fields are barren, and more than 2,000 people have left for cities in search of work at construction sites.It’s the same story in hundreds of tribal villages in the constituencies of Khedbrahma, Danta, Bhiloda, Meghraj, and Idar. Some 40,000 villagers have shifted from villages in Vijaynagar, Bhiloda and Meghraj talukas of this district, and in neighbouring Banaskantha, some 20,000 villagers have moved out of Vav, Tharad, Danta, Kokrej, and Bhabar.‘‘It is the worst-ever drought scenario,’’ says Sabarkantha MP and senior Congress leader Madhusoodan Mistry. Deputy secretary in the state Revenue department B.A. Pathak says a relief package has been sent for the EC’s clearance.It is to such deserted villages that the Congress and its main rival the BJP are going to ask for votes. But the December 12 election is the last thing on anyone’s mind here. Seventy-year-old Kamala Gamar lives alone in her hut in Nava Mota, living mostly on kadi and roti. She has 5 kg of flour with which to manage for a month. Her sons arrive once a month from the Dharoi dam catchment area where they have found jobs as farm hands.Roma Homa Khair of Jotana village near the Rajasthan border says: ‘‘Whichever party arranges for a month’s ration for my family will get my vote.’’ In Malwas village, a poster of how to use an electronic voting machine (EVM) is stuck on the door of Rama Meghjibhai Gamar. Gamar won’t be around to vote. ‘‘Till now we have survived on last year’s stock of grain,’’ he says. ‘‘In a few days, I’ll move out.’’For political parties, this trend is disconcerting. Says Laloobhai Desai of Manav Kalyan Trust, a voluntary organisation, who has seen such a scenario repeated many times: ‘‘The parties will soon start searching for tribals who have moved out, promise them food, and try to keep them here, at least till election time.’’It is the significant number of tribal voters that forces parties to do so. For example, in the Khedbrahma constituency, represented by Amarsinh Chaudhary of the Congress, 70 per cent of the 1.76 lakh voters are tribals. And according to estimates by social workers, some 35,000 people have migrated.Both parties know that Godhra and the post-Godhra violence will not work here. But it is relief work that is more important. Says Mistry: ‘‘I made representations to the chief secretary almost a month ago for starting relief work here. But nothing has happened.’’
