The extremists started it first. For them, boycotting elections was an exercise to undermine the Indian state. But now the common folk have taken the cue. It has thus become a weapon in the hands of the electorate to
express their displeasure with an apathetic government and political leadership. The moot question still remains: is this non-cooperation with the largest spectacle in Indian democracy beneficial to those who take it up?
In Tamil Nadu, roughly 500 families of Kalapatti near Coimbatore boycotted the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Oppressed for years, these Arunthathaiyar (Dalit) families have found themselves being constantly abused by the 2,000-odd caste-Hindu families in their locality. They are not allowed entry in the Mari Amman Temple or the graveyard. Both are supposed to be common to all the villagers.
“We’re not even considered humans,” S Babu, who works in a nearby foundry, says bitterly. “A Dalit girl can’t walk on the streets alone as the Gounders (dominant caste-Hindus in the area) will taunt her.” What used to be small altercations on the cricket field or in share
autos between the Dalits and the Gounders snowballed into a major issue and the world got to know of it when the Dalits decided to boycott polls to highlight their grievances.
However, for the Arunthathaiyars of Kalapatti, the boycott didn’t have the desired effect. For one, only 450 of the 950 Dalit voters boycotted polls. Also, the contestants — K Subbarayan (CPI), who won the elections that time to become the MP from Coimbatore, didn’t even come to the village to campaign and give a hearing to the villagers’ grievances. Ditto, the then sitting MP, C P Radhakrishnan of the BJP. Both are Gounders. What’s more, the villagers allege, Radhakrishnan threatened to “deal with them later for boycotting polls”.
Within a fortnight of the polls, nearly 200 Gounders entered the Dalit colony, set fire to homes, cattle sheds and temples, torched their bikes and beat up the people. Even a man’s arm was cut off. Thirteen Dalits and three Gounders were injured in the violence.
P Raghu, an electrician, was so astounded by the backlash that he fled the village. He now stays in Coimbatore with his wife and children. He was one of the few people who defied the boycott call. “Even if I didn’t vote, someone else would have in my name. To prevent any rigging, I voted,” explains the 32-year-old.
So was the boycott useful? “Dalits were looked upon as someone who’ll vote if given liquor, but this boycott put an end to such presumptions,” says Babu, the foundry worker.
Adds S Jayaprakash, also 32: “The boycott helped in raising awareness about the atrocities Gounders committed. They used to beat us for no reason. But now that has stopped. We’ve at least got a separate ration shop and water supply for our colony.”
However, the boycott didn’t help in socially uplifting these Arunthathaiyars. “We don’t get the respect that humans are entitled to,” says 24-year-old Rajesh Kumar. “We have the same emotions, flesh and blood that caste-Hindus have, so why are we being discriminated? I’ll not vote till our problems are solved.”
Jayakumar, an MBA graduate, feels they are still treated as slaves. “Our situation is as it was 50 years ago. No one looks back at us after the elections. So, what’s the point in registering a useless vote?” He hasn’t stepped into a polling booth since 2004.
A wait for better tidings
When C T Ahammed Ali of the Muslim League won the 2006 assembly elections from Kasargod, Kerala, 3,500 of the total electorate of 1,54,094 refused to vote at all. The fishermen of Kasaba have for years been demanding a harbour but when the project that was proposed 25 years ago didn’t take off, they decided to boycott the polls.
Every day, the fishermen go to sea early in the morning, get the catch by 8 am and wait till noon for the tide to turn and facilitate the boat’s return to shore as the water is shallow. In the last eight years, 12 fishermen have died because their boats got caught in the sand. Precious time is lost while waiting for the tide to turn. The fishermen also get only Rs 250-300 for 50 kg of sardine against a price of Rs 1,000.
Frustrated, they decided to obey the decision of the “sea court”, a locally formed body comprising village elders, to boycott the polls. “It was a foolish decision to boycott,” says R Gangadharan, block Congress president. “We don’t have a proper drainage system, no streetlights and state funds to build homes didn’t reach us. Nevertheless, the boycott definitely helped speed up the harbour project.”
In January, the central government sanctioned Rs 30 crore to build a harbour in
Kasaba. Tenders have been notified and construction will start in two months, says Jose Mathew, assistant executive engineer, Kasaba Harbour Engineering Department.
But the Kasaba fishermen aren’t enthused. Having been given the short shrift so often, they want to see the harbour physically before voting. “Our men folk risk their lives to make a living. Politicians come and promise a harbour but after polls, they forget their promises,” says a vociferous Karthikeya, 55. “The tsunami came and destroyed our homes but the government didn’t do anything to rebuild it. Why should we vote?”
“Fishermen can survive only if the harbour comes. Otherwise they’ll starve to death. The sops given by the government are of no use if the harbour isn’t built,” says 55-year-old C K Sashidaran.
State doesn’t exist
For more than a decade, the villagers of Kasavanahalli in Holalkere assembly constituency of Karnataka have boycotted polls in the hope that authorities and politicians will finally
address their needs.
There are no buses to Kasavanahalli, which has a population of 1,100, mostly Scheduled Castes. Villagers have to trek to Horakeredevapura (H D Pura), a distance of five km to access a high school, primary health centre and the market.
“It’s difficult in an emergency. No autos will come and even if they do, they ask for more money,” says G Lokamma, a panchayat member from Kasavanahalli.
The villagers have been pressing for a proper road to replace the dirt track that passes for a road in Kasavanahalli. But this is not the only problem plaguing the villagers. Kasavanahalli doesn’t have drinking water supply, no proper homes and electricity is available only for six hours.
The state doesn’t exist for these villagers. Frustrated with asking the Kasavanahalli villagers to vote, political leaders have now started boycotting them. No government welfare scheme has been implemented in Kasavanahalli in the last decade, say villagers. For
instance, Kasavanahalli didn’t benefit from the Ganga Kalyan Yojana scheme, which provides minor irrigation facilities for poor farmers, as it requires the MLA’s recommendation.
“The boycott didn’t help us at all. We only ended up losing our prestige,” says 35-year-old K R Jayappa.Lost and locked out, the villagers have finally decided to vote in this election. Maintains an elderly villager: “It’s only going to be speeches and more speeches, and no work by these politicians, so why shouldn’t I exercise my right to vote? In that way at least, I ensure that someone else doesn’t cast my vote.”
But maybe their decade-long struggle is bearing fruit now. M Chandrappa (BJP), popularly called the road king, is now Holalkere’s MLA. A GO was passed in December to build a road from H D Pura to Kasavanahalli.
— nithya@epmltd.com
last step
About 1,000 voters in Akkampally village under Andhra Pradesh’s Devarakonda assembly constituency boycotted the 2004 polls as the government didn’t provide them a rehabilitation package as promised earlier after building the Akkampally Balancing Reservoir and no efforts were made to plug a leak in the reservoir, which resulted in the inundation of the village.
Twelve of 18 villages in the
Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, Assam, boycotted elections in 2004. The villagers wanted a sluice gate to be constructed across a narrow strip at the confluence of the Kopili and Killing Rivers to prevent flash floods but repeated petitions for the same didn’t bring any response
from the government.
Andhra Pradesh’s Nandaram village in Kodangal assembly constituency of Mahboobnagar district boycotted the 2004 elections alleging that 200 eligible persons couldn’t find place in the voters list.
Villagers of Koppanapatti in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu have been boycotting elections to the local bodies since October 2006. When the panchayat was bifurcated into Koppanapatti
and Konnapatti village panchayats three decades
ago, some infrastructure
facilities went to Konnapatti panchayat. This has affected the revenue of the Koppanapatti panchayat, say villagers.
The right to reject
In 2004, the People’s Union of Civil Liberties filed a petition in the Supreme Court to allow the electorate to cast a negative vote secretly. Right now, under rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, voters can declare at the polling booth that they don’t want to vote for any of the candidates but this needs to be done publicly.
“The political culture being what it is, many who are dissatisfied with the candidates would prefer to sit at home” rather than earn the wrath of the politicians, says former secretary to government A K Venkatasubramanian.
“Political parties don’t want it (secrecy of negative voting). If the none of the above votes are higher than the votes for the candidates, it puts moral pressure on the political parties to put up proper candidates,” he adds.
About the practice of boycotting polls, Venkatasubramanian says, “It doesn’t serve any purpose. Political morality is so bad that by boycotting we’ll only facilitate rigging.”
However, R Gangadharan of Kasaba in north Kerala feels a boycott helps send a stronger message to the establishment than negative voting.
S Jayaprakash of Kalapatti in Tamil Nadu, who wasn’t aware of the negative voting provision, agrees. “Even if I can cast a negative vote, I would have still boycotted the polls, as it brought attention to our problems,” he says.
In retrospect, K R Jayappa of Kasavanahalli feels that if his fellow villagers had been aware of negative voting, they might have done that rather than boycotting polls.
— NC