NALGONDA: A day before the residents of Munugode exercised their franchise, in-charges appointed by the political parties were in for a torrid time on Wednesday, neither able to convince and calm down some voters nor arrange more money and liquor demanded by the latter.
Right from Tuesday night, the in-charges reached the villages they were given the responsibility for, armed with a copy of the voter list, and offered Rs 3,000 per vote.To their shock, they were chastised by the villagers who demanded “full payment” as promised by the candidates or by top leaders of the political parties.
Residents of Koratikal in Munugo-de mandal reminded the in-charge that the candidate of the particular party he was representing had promised one tola of gold per household with five voters, but he was offering only Rs 3,000 per person.
Knowing well that this was their last chance to force the parties to pay up, the villagers did not hold back when expressing their anger on the party in-charge. They warned him that if they did not get the promised gold, their vote would go to the rival candidate.
P Narsamma of Bangarigadda, Chandur mandal asked an agent, “Will you even meet us after we cast our vote?” The flustered agent tried to convince them that there was still time, but the villagers were in no mood to listen. His defence that teams of policemen were roaming in the villages and getting cash through was impossible, failed to convince the villagers.
Ch Radamma, a resident of the village, said that they were promised a tola of gold for five votes per household. “Now, if they send Rs 3,000, how will we get the gold?” she asked. In many villages, squabbles broke out over money being offered by rival parties. Voters in some villages said that while a party promised Rs 5,000 per voter, they were now being offered only Rs 3,000 each.
Nama Pulamma of Kothularam village in Nampalli mandal said that the political leaders had turned the menfolk of the village into “drunkards and slaves”. “Our men are now addicted to liquor. Who will feed us now?” she asked, voicing the anxiety felt by many women.
From the day of the election notification, liquor and chicken had been distributed in the villages, and the villagers got Rs 500 per day for campaigning. Now that campaigning has ended, this flow of funds and refreshments has stopped.
A senior police officer said that they have been conducting checks in all the villages since Tuesday night following allegations of distribution of money and liquor.
