Telangana: No money, no vote, say some

HYDERABAD: Amid high voter turnout, some pockets of Munugode sat out of Thursday's bypoll owing to "unfilled election promise." Majority of the 2,500-odd voters of Antampet village refused to cast their votes for not receiving the promised moolah from political parties.
Contrary to the situation in Anthampet village near Munugode, Lambada tribals in nearby hamlets were boycotting the Munugode byelections on Thursday for an entirely different reason. Barely a kilometre away from Anthampet, tribals at Devla Thanda refused to cast their votes demanding that the government provide them basic amenities such as a proper road and restart a defunct government school. “We don’t want their money.
The mud road here is often a bumpy ride, especially during the rains. We have voted for both Telangana Rashtra Samithi and and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates and neither of them did anything for our tribal hamlets,” K Mallesh, a degree student told TOI. Out of the 250 people living in Devla Thanda, around 10 cast their votes. The tribal hamlet is not alone in protesting political parties’ apathy as tribals in four more hamlets – Haznabava, Rangam, Ragya and Kudabakshpalli in the constituency — refused to cast their votes. Some of the tribals in the hamlets admitted that they did receive money from some political parties, but still refused to vote. “I was offered `3,000 by a political party. I did not want the money.
I voted for a candidate in the byelection that some of my grandchildren suggested,” 80-year-old Nanavath Jampku from Devla Thanda told TOI. She said the road condition there has been bad for the last 50 years. Tribals also complained that an exclusive school meant for their hamlets had become defunct owing to the lack of teachers. They demanded that the school be restarted.