Residents of many villages in Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency have given calls for boycotting Lok Sabha elections, citing the delay in ensuring telephone network and development works that include filling tanks.
The residents of Varamballi, a village in Hosanagar taluk, about nine kilometres from the taluk headquarter, have decided to boycott the elections due to the delay in getting a mobile phone network. For years, they have been demanding a BSNL tower in their village so that they can communicate with the outside world through their phones. Vinayaka Prabhu, a resident of the village, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office 10 times since 2017. “Every time I wrote, I got a response from the PMO. But there is no progress on the ground. I don’t know how long we should suffer,” said Vinayak Prabhu, who works for a private organisation.
A tower has been sanctioned for the village. However, due to the delay in getting clearance from the Forest Department, the work has not begun yet. Of the 150 households in the village, many have resolved to boycott the election. After receiving information about their decision, senior officers of the taluk administration rushed to their place and tried to convince them.
Similarly, the residents of Hittur village, which is part of Shivamogga Rural Assembly constituency, have decided to boycott the election as their demand to fill up the tanks of the village has remained unfulfilled since 2016.
Hittur Raju, who is also vice president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, said that a proposal for a lift irrigation project to fill up six tanks of Hittur and seven tanks of neighbouring villages – Narayanapura and Byrinakoppa—was submitted to the State government in 2016. They approved the same. “The proposed project will help at least 500–600 acres of agricultural area, besides recharging the underground water table. However, the project remained on paper. The elected representatives promised to implement the project, but it did not happen,” he said. Hence, he said, 240 voters in the village have resolved to boycott the elections.
