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Friday, Apr 16, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

An election boycott that worked

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

BULANDSHAHR, U.P.

In a remarkable display of unity, cutting across the ubiquitous caste divide, the 7,200 voters of Gesupur village of Bulandshahr district boycotted the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. The villagers were forced to resort to this course of action because of a deep sense of frustration with successive elected representatives, who had done nothing to address their problems.

Set in the countryside, about 10 km from Sikandrabad town, Gesupur village is today definitely better off than what it was five years ago. The lady pradhan, Sumitra Devi, appears quite satisfied as she talks about how things have changed since the villagers decided to boycott the elections to send across the message that they did not want to vote for politicians who did not care for them.

"We had several problems in 1999, but many have been sorted out since. The road leading to Sikandrabad town, which had not been repaired since it was built in 1981, has been finally relaid. And the power supply, which was so bad that villagers had gotten used to week-long power cuts, has now improved. But still the maximum availability per day is only around eight hours."

A big issue for the villagers last time was the non-availability of telephone connections. Though Rs. 46,000 had been collected for the installation of 23 phones, for seven years the cables did not reach the village, stopping just two km short of it. But in 2000, the phone lines finally reached Gesupur; ironically, mobile phones came soon after, which did away with the dependence on the State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

The availability of water has also improved with the old canal, which was running dry since 1983, getting rejuvenated. "This has helped as over the years the water table has dropped from around 12 feet to about 20 feet due to the excessive use of pump sets in the district," said a village elder, Om Prakash.

But the village - which has a high literacy rate - still has its share of problems. The chakbandi (land records) are still missing; while those in possession of land have gained, many real landowners have been deprived of their rights.

Also, the violence that followed when the residents opposed the entry of former Member of Parliament, Chhattar Pal, when he went to Gesupur for canvassing in September 1999, still continues to haunt the villagers. The former MP, who was working towards the construction of a by-pass around the village, lost interest in the project subsequently.

But the worst part has been that the case against four villagers, who had protested against the MP's entry into the village, is still continuing. While one of them has died, the other three still have to attend court. And with the villagers no longer united as they were in 1999 — when they had even collected around Rs. 60,000 to fight the cases on behalf of the accused — the three accused now find themselves short of funds to fight the case.

However, the villagers are too busy with politics right now to even think about them. With several parties already trying to set up offices in the village, Gesupur is this time getting ready to vote in the Lok Sabha elections.

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