High turnout in Maoist villages

Vijay Deo Jha Tamar Tuesday, January 6, 2009

It was an election day in Tamar — most sensitive, sensational and engrossing due to several factors. It was not only due to the fact that a Chief Minister was in a razor-edged contest with Raja Peter of Jharkhand Party or Vijay Singh Munda of AJSU and Vasundhara Munda of Janta Dal (U).

Tamar having it a history of naxal violence remained in the centre stage of media report filed from the different dateline; and this by-election too could not escape the attention of the media and fear of the people who apprehended a low turn out of the voters with another worse fear in their mind—the poll would take its toll.

A visit of nearly a dozen of sensitive polling booths and villages situated in the remote and rugged terrain of Tamar with red flags fluttering atop brought surprise. Voters mostly agriculture labourers and illiterates thronged in large number to elect their representative. Even the villagers supported the police forces in nabbing those who were creating nuances at the polling booth. At booth number 209 in Palna village the people helped the police party to nab a JMM activist who was trying to allure the voters with bags.

Interestingly polling passed off peacefully without any hustle-bustle in these villages with high turnout—81 percents in some of the cases.

It would take not less than two hours for a trekker to reach Kandeburu a naxal affected village. A battalion of Central Reserve Police Force has been camping here for the last one month to smoke out the naxal groups for a free and fair election. The village having a scattered population of not more than 1000 who survive on agriculture and odd labour have no menace of communication—road does not exist.

Here defying call for the boycott of the election villagers turned in unexpected number at booth number 235 which has been declared super sensitive. More than 50 percents voters had cast their vote. Sukhlal a 50 years old peasant said: "Ye election hai babu aur jaise khet me kaam karte hai usi tarah vote bhi ek kaam hai." (This is election sir and as we work in the field so voting is also a work for us.)

While the gun trotting alert CRPF personals were moving around the area; the voters were sitting in the queue. It included a large number of women who could show you their voter identity cards.

"They turned very late for the polling" said Bindeswari Upadhyay CRPF head constable. "Initially we thought no body would come for voting… nobody could be seen around the polling booth till 11 AM this morning…but they began trickling in reluctantly after performing their work in the field", he said.

An hour before the closing of the polls a good number of voters had cast their votes with another 200 people waiting outside with poll slips in their hand.

Even CRPF personals had taken initiatives to instill confidence among them to turn out for polling.

Village Basukucha has a different case altogether—no road, no police party come for patrolling and no political party asked them their vote. The villagers share the same lot with the inhabitants of the village Antabera and Jargo.

A local villager Dinesh said: "They (naxal) often criticize election but we decided to vote and hope it would bring road and water for us." At Basukucha there was record turn out of voters 81 percents the officials claimed.

But they cast their vote with cynicism: will this election bring any change for them. While the rest of Tamar is echoing with promises to bring water in the canal these villagers are forced to consume polluted water gushing out of nearby hill. It is not election but water that took toll of many.