The impression on the part of many is that the Naveen Patnaik Government has been doing good work for the last 14 years. But, that is not quite the way some hundreds of voters in the Chief Minister’s own constituency, Hinjli, see things.
Over 500 voters at Chikili under the Hinjli Assembly constituency in Ganjam district boycotted the polls on Thursday, in protest against the complete lack of development in the village.“We hear so much about 108 Ambulance, but we have never seen one in our village because it does not have a proper road. The Janani Express programme too is out of bounds for us for the same reason,” a villager told a local television channel.
“Though we have drawn the administration’s attention several times demanding construction of a road, nothing has been done,” said another villager. Similarly, voters in as many as 13 villages of Bijapur panchayat under the Kotpad Assembly constituency in Koraput district boycotted the elections on Thursday.
People of these villages alleged that the district administration and the political leaders had turned a deaf ear to their repeated requests to undertake developmental work in their villages.About 4,200 voters of five booths in the tribal dominated Tumudibandh and Raikia blocks of Kandhamal district also boycotted the vote on the day protesting Government apathy towards their villages.
The voters belonging to booth no. 135 (Padunabadi) and 136 (Dindrabadi) in Raikia block, 116 (Barangali), 117 (Bhadrangi) and 129 (lankagada) in Tumudibandh did not cast their votes, confirmed official sources.
The people of these villages had demanded construction of a road as the area remains cut off for four months during the monsoons.