MANGALURU: Even when political parties are vying with each other for the victory of candidates supported by them in gram panchayat elections, people in this village in Sullia taluk are united under an apolitical group called ‘Grama Bharat’.
The main aim of the Grama Bharat initiative is to develop Guthigaru gram panchayat, especially Kamila, Mogra, Eranagudde, Ballakka, Kinnikumeri and other areas where people face difficulties due to lack of basic infrastructure. Hence, like the Twenty20 concept of Kerala, that has bagged four gram panchayats in the recently held polls, Grama Bharat has fielded four candidates to make their dreams a reality in Guthigaru, where elections will be held on Sunday.
“The main objective of gram panchayat elections is to give powers to people, and hence it should be held without doing politics. The main aim of Gram Bharat is an overall development of our villages, where we face problems like lack of drinking water, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. We have been receiving only promises and none of our demands have been fulfilled. Hence, we have decided to fight this election as a group,” said Mahesh Puchchappady, a villager, who is spearheading the apolitical movement.
The group wants to turn the ward number 1 of Guthigaru gram panchayat into a model one, he said. “We want to provide all basic infrastructure for our villagers. To achieve this, we have decided to make our representatives M K Sharada, Vasantha M, Bharath K V and Latha Kumari contest the election from the ward, where four candidates have to be chosen based on reservation,” he added.
Gram Bharat will continue its activities in the future, to ensure apolitical participation of people in elections, he said. “We have plans to hold monthly meetings in one of the houses in each area. At this meeting, we will discuss about rural development and action plans will be prepared. Overall development in all spheres, including education, sports, agriculture, women’s empowerment, religion and health will be our priority,” he added.