Voters in remote village Bagjam to boycott polls protesting non-fulfilment of their demand

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The electorates of remote Bagjam village under Tali Assembly Constituency in Kra Daadi district have decided to boycott the April 11 simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in protest against the non-fulfilment of their demand for creation of polling station at their locality.

A group of 39 voters from Bagjam conveyed this in a signed representation to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here.

Expressing their dismay on authorities’ alleged indifferent attitude towards meeting their long-felt demand, they wrote, “Several representations had been made to DEO (Kra Daadi) and your esteemed office but no corrective measure has been taken nor our grievances redressed.”

Bagjam, a revenue census village located in remote Pipsorang circle under Kra Daadi district, has a total of 111 electorates as per latest electoral rolls. They cast their votes at Lukbia polling station, which is 8 km away from their village.

Moreover, there are natural barriers – two big rivers, Pare and Sulu, and tough terrain – between the two locations whereas an ECI notification dated May 7, 2018 says: “The electors of so merged/attached polling station are not required to travel more than two kilometer distance and to cross any natural barriers”. Citing the instance of ‘Malogam’, they said with regret: “For a single voter, a polling station can be created….It is a sort of harassment to the electorate to exercise adult franchise in a far flung location without any road communication.

“…The very concept of ECI ‘greater participation for a stronger democracy’ will fail,” they said while noting that their demand for a separate polling station remained unfulfilled.

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