Development was said to be the main issue on the basis of which at least the major political parties -- BJP and Congress -- had elicited votes from the public here in Uttarakhand. Though many voted on this and other issues, there were also some voters in the State capital Dehradun who decided to boycott the Parliamentary polls due to lack of development in their locality.
One such place was the Valmiki Basti at Sevla Kalan area in the portion of Dehradun which falls under the Haridwar parliamentary constituency, where many voters decided to abstain from polling accusing the elected public representatives of failure to provide proper roads and drainage facility in the locality. However, on being informed about the None of The Above (NOTA) option, many of the voters who had thought of boycotting the polls showed interest in using this option.
Valmiki Basti residents Sunny Kashyap and Rajkumar complained that open drains in the locality clogged by garbage and uneven damaged roads were causing major inconvenience to the locals. "What is the point in voting when the netas are not going to solve the problems we are facingIJ Our Pradhan has not looked into the problems in this area," said Rajkumar while adding that some officials and politicians did visit the area on Tuesday and assured the residents that their problems would be resolved.
Another local Anuradha, who also runs a small shop, said that her home was filled with dirty water and sludge following rain on Tuesday. "I had voted for the Congress last time but this time I don't see any point in voting for anyone because no one appears to be interested in solving our problems. The elected representatives should be visiting our area regularly to ensure that the roads are proper and sanitation is maintained but no one does so," she said.
Roma Sharma said that there is no point in voting because all politicians, irrespective of their party, have neglected the area where stagnant dirty water in open roadside drains poses a health risk to the residents.
When asked whether they were aware of the NOTA option, the locals responded in the negative, but when informed about it by this reporter, they favoured this option as a means to send a message to the politicians.