“Residents of Sanwal gram panchayat and Sangoti village announced to boycott of elections in the morning. Both are remote villages. There is no concrete road connectivity to the villages. Their demand is genuine, but they announced the boycott on short notice. Our teams are there. Some voters at Makkan and Chachul agreed to cast their votes. However, there was no voting in Sangoti village,” Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mukesh Repaswal, told The Indian Express.

Bali Ram, a resident of Sanwal, said, “We decided to boycott the elections last week. There is no point in casting votes if the government and administration cannot provide us with a concrete road”.

The villagers also alleged that they have reminded the administration several times of the difficulties they face but have only got assurances.

News agency PTI quoted Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Makkan village, as saying that it has been 76 years since Independence but still the smalle hamlet awaits basic facilities.

“We are still waiting for internet connectivity, road and electricity and the situation is so pathetic that if someone falls ill, we have to carry the patients on foot for 4-5 km to reach the health centre. several people have died as they could not get treatment on time,” said Mukesh Kumar.

He said the locals gathered in huge numbers outside polling booth No. 25 (Makkan village) but refused to vote. “Besides basic facilities, we want that the building of government school be repaired and the teachers be deployed there. At present, there is one teacher for 100 students,” he said.

A government officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The people are demanding a concrete road. This demand falls under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Under this scheme, local residents have to donate a small portion of land to the government for the construction of roads. In one of the villages, nobody was ready to donate the land. There is also an issue related to the forest land, for which permission is required from the State Wildlife Board”.

Dalhousie MLA DS Thakur said, “It is unfortunate that people did not come forward for the voting. I know that their demand is genuine. After winning 2022 Vidhan Sabha election, I proposed to get the road constructed and also send the proposal to Shimla for approval. The approval is still pending”.

Meanwhile, video from Juri village under Charda Gram panchayat went viral where locals said they are boycotting the election as link road that was sanctioned from Charda to Juri in 2006 was yet to be constructed. They said the village is located on a hill top with water bodies around and they have to trek around 10 km to reach the nearest health centre.

With PTI