Sangareddy: Upper castes in Govindrajpalli village of Hathnoora mandal under Narsapur Assembly segment have declared a social boycott of Dalits for voting and electing a sarpanch contrary to their diktat.

Trouble began immediately after Balaiah became sarpanch of Govindrajpalli for a second time. The forward castes have directed the Dalits, who constitute a major chunk of the panchayat, to vote for the candidate they have suggested. With the Dalits openly supporting Balaiah, who himself is not a Dalit, the upper caste families stopped calling the Dalits for the chores they generally perform for money or grain.

According to Durgaiah, a Dalit, first the upper caste families stopped calling them for the disposal of dead animals and then for funerals to play the band. The distance grew wider with the Dalits being kept away from the annual Ganesh festival in the village. Sarpanch Balaiah is also facing boycott by the villagers for supporting the Dalits depriving himself of the chance to perform puja. However, other villagers strongly believe that the Dalits have betrayed them by re-electing Balaiah.

Social organisations, including the Kulavivaksha Vyatireka Porata Sangham, visited the village on Tuesday and asked the district administration to take confidence-building steps among for Dalits of Govindrajpalli or the situation could get out of hand.

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