NILAMBAZAR, April 6 � A total number of 21,665 voters in 16 polling stations under Ratabari LAC did not exercise their fanchise in Nivia-Charagi area in Karimganj district on April 4 in protest against the poor road condition in the area.
An official source said that not a single vote was polled in these polling stations where polling personnel had to reach on elephant back and then trek for over six kilometres.
The people of 15 villages, on the remote Ratachora hills bordering Mizoram, decided to stay away from the polls even though they had not made any announcement of boycotting the polls earlier.
�We boycotted the elections, as since Independence, no development has taken place in the area and despite repeated appeals to our representatives, both in Parliament and State Assembly, no steps have been taken to improve the condition of this remote area�, president of Anipur-Jamuang Sadak Sangram Samiti Abhimanyu Sinha said.
Sinha said they had not announced their decision earlier as the leaders always made false promises and did not fulfil them.
The area has extremely poor road communication and health facilities were also very bad. The people of the area are facing untold sufferings due to the lack of PHE, electricity etc. he added. There were 12 candidates in the fray in the constituency, prominent among them were Kripanath Mallah of Congress, BJP�s Nikil Suklabaidya, Priyada Ranjan Mollik of AIUDF and Amaresh Roy of TMC.
It is to be noted that of the 16 polling stations, 15 are under Charagi GP and one under Patakauri GP.
