THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, October 31: A self-centred atmosphere and malicious environs of no vote until resolution of issues like road, water to agricultural fields, etc, by a handful of people in constituencies are being shaped here in Palamu, which the district administration has taken up in all strictness and has declared war on such a fissiparous trend.
The attempt to create an incongenial atmosphere to voting is diabolical and sinister and is a malafide attempt to slow down voting.
The Palamu administration has drawn up a long series of SVEEP programmes, some of them well carried out so far, and this unfortunate popping up of people’s heads against no vote till road, etc., is nothing but a diversionary and ill-thought-out plan to harm none but oneself.
It is largely to gain short-term publicity forgetting long-term infamy that here is the booth or locality whose people didn’t turn up at the booth on the day of polling. A hamlet or a village is remembered long for such a foolhardy to abstain from voting.
First, the vote boycott call. It is always by a handful of people. It has never had the support of the masses. Some few loud-voice people manage it.
Again, such a vote boycott call is limited and confined to a booth or so. Village politics plays a dubious role in it.
Further, a contestant who finds any booth or pocket of booths inconducive to his electoral gains opens his purse and finances and promotes such a vote boycott call. There are people ready to carry out such a proxy engineering of vote boycotts all for the allurements.
Motive behind ‘no vote’ call
The Jharkhand Story correspondent spoke to a cross-section of people of all 5 assembly constituencies here in Palamu to know the motive behind such a call not to vote.
The vox populi was intriguing and amusing both. Some said, “We know those who shout a ‘no-road-no-vote’ slogan have their boys and girls studying in schools and colleges campaigning for more and more voting percentage. There can’t be any more sham than this.”
A section of people said, “Many who shout and raise hands for vote ‘bahishkar’ are the ones who in private conversation predict victory and defeat of the contestants. They sit under any village tree and become a psephologist. Such men are a pseudo agitator.”
Some responses were “Tell me which panchayat here in Palamu is not deficient in terms of public utility like road, drinking water etc. Is this not true that the issue of land holds up the construction of roads? And whose land is major after all. It’s Raiyyats’ land. These railyards are the major obstacles as they refuse to part with the land for the road when it is not to be done free but with payment for land at the prevailing market value of the land in that circle and when the day of the polling comes they return to this pressure tactic.”
“There are genuine issues too that drive people to resort to such shouting against the voting just to draw immediate action. There is a popular perception that things move much faster in the period model code of conduct is enforced” said an equally good number of people.
However, when The Jharkhand Story correspondent countered these people with a query if the timing or situation for such a call to refrain from voting is any justified, the response in multiple voices was “No. Polling Day is not the right day, sure. But just to draw quick attention.”
So, for short-term publicity, polling is staked without knowing the consequences of it.
A villager begging for anonymity told this correspondent, “We run the risk of losing our face when we raise such a call not to vote. The victor and the defeated both do not count us any more following our votelessness stature.”
The Palamu administration has admonished such dubious people to refrain from any such activity that comes in the way of peaceful voting.
District election officer cum deputy commissioner Palamu Shashi Ranjan has in his press conference made it clear that “An atmosphere is being engineered to throw spanner to the peaceful polling wherein unsuspecting people are misguided and misled to abstain from voting just for ulterior motives.”
The sponsors for such a fake and engineered protest or demonstration against the sanctity of the voting would be dealt with very firmly, reminded Shashi Ranjan.
Issuing a stern warning, Shashi Ranjan said, “Such forces can’t get away. No one has any business to come in the way of voting.”
“It’s a serious offence to have any means of demonstration, exhibition or pronouncement against the spirit of voting as then the law will take its course,” reiterated the district election officer cum deputy commissioner Palamu Shashi Ranjan.
Any banner, poster, wall writing or disfiguring even a tree by way of nailing to it an anti-polling message etc comes under the ambit of the violation of the model code of conduct where there is a well-laid rule of law under the R P act and also in the Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita.
The DC has appealed to voters of 85 and age group voters, persons with disabilities, first-time voters of 18 to 19 years and onwards, transgender voters, woman voters, migrant workers etc to vote on November 13 in Palamu.
