KUSHALNAGAR: Frustrated over the “rich getting richer, and the poor becoming poorer”, a painter from Kushalnagar, who ekes out his living as a daily wage labourer, has decided to boycott the Lok Sabha elections.
K A Mohammed (67), a resident of Nagamma Manti in Kushalnagar, said, “’I recently protested in front of our gram panchayat office on the behalf of people who continue to wait for drinking water facilities and roads among many other basic facilities. I have been voting for all these years, hoping that our demands will be heard. But it all seems like a farce.”
Moreover, the Central government coming out with GST has only sounded a death knell for most of the small businesses, he said. “Be it any political party, they should have equal concern for people, irrespective of their socio-economic status,” he said.
C S Thammaiah, a farmer from Kiragandur in Somwarpet taluk, said, “Like every elections, this too is of great significance for the country. We have been facing many hurdles in the society and can raise our voice only if we take part in the electoral exercise.”
However, not many agree. Some people here say that be it elections for local bodies or the state assembly, the common grievances are related to better roads and drinking water facilities. One villager said, “The elected representatives blatantly turn a deaf ear towards our demands. When this is the situation, what is the use of voting?”