PremiumThe banners near the Ancheli Railway station and in the areas of the villages say, "Train nahi to vote nahi (no train no votes). BJP or other political parties should not come for election campaigns. Our demands are not met, so we are boycotting the elections"
Residents of Ancheli and 17 other villages in the Navsari assembly constituency have hung banners calling for a boycott of the elections and forbidding political leaders, including those from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), from entering the villages for campaigning while all the political parties in Gujarat are getting ready for the state assembly election that is scheduled for the following month.
Their demand for local trains to be stopped at the Ancheli railway station has not been fulfilled, which is the reason they have decided to boycott the election.
The banners near the Ancheli Railway station and in the areas of the villages say, "Train nahi to vote nahi (no train no votes). BJP or other political parties should not come for election campaigns. Our demands are not met, so we are boycotting the elections."
"Here in the constituency people of at least 18 villages have boycotted this election. Their demand is for the stoppages of the train that used to stop here before Covid 19. People are facing issues as the ones who are regular passengers, they are forced to take private vehicles now and they have to spend almost 300 rs per day," Hitesh Nayak, an adult said while talking to ANI.
Prachi Patel, a college student, said that the problem made it hard for her to study because she had to leave one of her morning lectures.
Chhotubhai Patil, a member of the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), stated that no concerned individuals have responded to the issue.
"A local passenger train used to stop here since 1966 but it was stopped due to the Covid pandemic. After it restarted, it does not stop here at our station. People from at least 19 villages do up-down from here for their jobs and daily based earnings," said Chhotubhai Patil.
"They are facing issues. We are not demanding the new one. We just want the same train, but still, the local administrators or representatives are not responding," he further said.
Chhotubhai Patil said that the villagers have decided to send the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) with no vote.
"We have decided to boycott this assembly election and we will send the EVM back all empty," he added.
On December 1 and 5, the elections will be held in two phases.The results for Himachal Pradesh will be announced on December 8, the same day that the votes will be counted.
The state has been ruled by the BJP for 27 years, and it is known as a stronghold for the party.But the Congress also wants to use the electoral process to its advantage and unseat the BJP government.
In the subsequent state elections, the ruling party is seeking its seventh consecutive term in office.The state has long been a BJP stronghold, and the party wants to get back to power with a big majority this time around.However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal and featuring Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate, poses a formidable electoral threat to it.
The second list of six candidates for the upcoming elections to the Gujarat Assembly was made public by the BJP on Saturday.Two women have received tickets from the BJP on the second list of six candidates.
It has fielded Dhoraji's Mahendrabhai Padaliya, Khambhalia's Mulubhai Bera, Kutiyana's Dheliben Maldebhai Odedara, Bhavnagar East's Sejal Rajiv Kumar Pandya, Dediapada (ST's Hitesh Devji Vasava, and Choryasi's Sandeep Desai.The BJP had previously released the initial list of candidates for 160 of the 182 candidates in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections earlier on Thursday.
14 females, 13 from the scheduled caste, 24 from the scheduled tribe, and 69 repeat candidates make up the first list of 160 candidates.In the state, elections for the Assembly are scheduled for December 1 and 5.
Major political parties have announced their candidates for almost all of the 182 Assembly seats up for grabs in the first round.For the upcoming elections to the Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has compiled a list of notable campaigners.Prime Minister Narendra Modi tops the list.
BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and fellow members of the central cabinet Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Purushottam Rupala are among the other prominent individuals on the list.
Along with BJP state president CR Patil and state Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is seeking a new mandate from the Ghatlodia Assembly segment, is also on the star campaigners' list.
With inputs from ANI