To protest water woes, village in Gujarat boycotts election

Polling officials check the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and other necessary inputs required for the Gujarat Assembly Election at the distribution centre. Image Source: IANS

Zero voting was recorded at Gajadi village in Morbi district of Gujarat today as the residents, fed up with water shortage, boycotted polling.

While long lines were seen outside polling booths in Saurashtra and South Gujarat in the first phase of Assembly polls, none of the 1,000 registered voters in Gajadi turned up to cast vote, officials said.

The village, though situated in Tankara tehsil of Morbi, comes under Kalavad constituency of Jamnagar district.

The district administration said they tried their best to persuade villagers to vote.

"Villagers had announced a few months ago that they would refrain from voting. Their main grievance was about water supply. Though the village is being supplied water through a pipeline, they claimed it was not enough and demanded another pipeline," said Morbi Collector and District Election Officer I K Patel.

"Even today senior officials went to the village and urged them to cast vote. But no one turned up at the polling booth," he added.

"When we told them there are plans to lay a new pipeline, villagers asked us to give the assurance on paper. As the model code of conduct was in place, it was not possible to give it in writing. Such an assurance on the day of polling would also set a wrong precedent," the Collector added.

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