The 450 residents of the tiny Edakuriya village in Hanur taluk voted on Sunday after the district administration promised to build them a bridge. But some villages in Bellary, Raichur, Chamarajanagar, Hassan and Belgaum were not so lucky. They did not manage to get any promises or benefits and registered their protest by not voting.
Around 400 of the 800 voters at Kamtur in the mine-rich Sandur taluk of Bellary district protested the “indifference” of their elected representatives to the conditions they live in and demanded Form 17, which is the right to reject candidates.
T M Shivakumar, an advocate and member of Jana Sangama Parishat said, “They were not given Form 17 under People’s Representation Act of 1951 by the presiding officer. Instead, voters were given a book to enter their remarks stating why they did not vote in the election.”
The people of Ramakrishnapura and Hosur villages in Belur assembly constituency in Hassan are also demanding basic amenities.
They alleged that successive governments completely failed to provide potable drinking water, power and roads. for their villages for five decades and boycotted the polls.