All over bar the counting

Maoists shun boycott mantra in election of change,enthusiastic voters respond with 84.8 turnout

The expression vote for change assumed an added connotation in Junglemahal on Tuesday,signifying the voting itself apart from an imminent change of guard at Writers Buildings.

The Maoist-dominated Lalgarh-Jhargram tribal belt,used to the politics of the gun,voted in huge numbers,the enthusiasm spreading from constituencies with traditionally high turnouts to those where voters normally boycott the polls under threat or in protest.

Indeed,Shyamal Mahato and Manoj Mahato,who had been arrested for alleged Maoist links and are now out on bail,were seen encouraging villagers to cast their votes. Earlier,they had been the ones who had ordered a poll boycott.

Overall,the sixth and final phase recorded a turnout of 84.8 per cent in the 14 seats of Junglemahal. And the count was probably closer to the truth than ever,with villagers alleging false voting in past elections.

Earlier,we never went out of our houses during polls but would be told at the end of the day that our votes had been polled. This time,we felt safe. All villagers have used their voting right,which was virtually snatched years ago, said Manoranjan Singh of Belpahari. No one from Belpahari had voted in eight years; up to 90 per cent did this time in remote polling booths.

Across the belt,thousands of tribals queued up at booths since daybreak,decked up in their best,most of them smiling. Security personnel manned the booths,the roads,the jungles and the interiors of the villages; helicopters hovered overhead.

In Netai,villagers voted as a unit,as if in protest against the January killing of nine villagers. Not one of the 1,263 listed on the rolls missed his or her vote in a village where many have already said that not one of their votes would go to the CPM.

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Among the villages that normally boycott the polls but voted this time was Metala,about 15 km off the state highway and in the interiors of Junglemahal. This is a village that has bred a number of Maoist leaders such as Bikash,who is still at large,and which has provided a hideout to others such as Kishenji till he shifted base because of constant raids.

Because of the raids and alleged atrocities by security forces,villagers often identify with Maoists. Children,encouraged by elders,aspire to become like Bikash one day. An earlier visit to Metala had shown that 50 families wanted their children to become Maoists.

This time,most of Metalas 414 adult villagers walked through 10 km in the Goaltore forest to cast their votes. Lakshimoni Soren,60,said,We have voted after seven years. During the last Assembly and Parliament elections,we had been told not to vote by the dadas. This time,they have asked us to do so. They told us we must vote because we need a representative in the Assembly,otherwise all political parties would exploit us.

In the 2009 parliamentary elections,villagers of Birkar,Ramgarh and Goaltore,apart from those of Metala,had boycotted the polls. This time,villagers from each of these turned out.

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The change in approach of the normally aloof Maoists is being seen as tactical. Alleged leader Chhatradhar Mahato,for one,is contesting the elections. His wife Niyati Mahato said,We have to vote this time as we must a representative in the Assembly. We have told tribal villagers that if Chhatradhar Mahato is elected,the tribal population will never have to depend on the mainstream parties that always exploit them.

Some surrendered Maoists voted under police escort. Among them were Sobha Mandi and Bibhuti who voted in Binpur Assembly constituency. Both are under police protection.

More than 65,000 personnel were deployed in West Midnapore,Purulia and Bankura.