Residents of Kesurua Kala village under Bahadurpur block in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha election to protest the district administration’s inaction against a local muscleman who wants to illegally occupy the gram sabha land.

The All India Panchayat Parishad has extended support to the villagers who are fighting to save the land from illegal occupation.

Lakshmi Chand Gupta, gram pradhan, Kesurua Kala village, has also allegedly received death threats from Ram Vishal Singh, a local muscleman who runs a school and wants to illegally occupy the gram sabha’s land for his educational institution.

“The entire district administration of Prayagraj is aware of the incident. Local muscleman Ram Vishal Singh wants to illegally occupy the gram sabha’s land. A portion of the land is already under his illegal possession. The land in question is a road that locals use,” Satyendra Tripathi, state general secretary of the All India Panchayat Parishad, told media persons on Sunday. “When the village head Lakshmi Chand Gupta tried to construct the road, he was issued deaths. We have apprised the state revenue department and the district magistrate about the incident but to no avail,” said Tripathi.

“In protest against the district administration’s inaction and repeated threats, villagers have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha poll,” said Lakshmi Chand Gupta. He has also demanded security from the district administration.

An FIR has been lodged in the incident but no arrest has been made till date.

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Meanwhile, residents of Nagla Maya hamlet in Hathras district, have come out with posters and banners telling candidates ‘no water, no vote’, and ‘give water and take vote, since their problem of salty water supply has not been addressed.

“Dozens of villages in the area are forced to drink salty water, but finding no solution from public representatives, people of our village have decided to boycott polls unless they are provided potable piped water,” said Chandrapal Singh, a local youth who is spearheading the campaign ahead of the LS polls.

First Published: Apr 01, 2019 12:24 IST