Sarpanch post for SC woman, Nabha village boycotts poll

Patiala: Upset over the sarpanch’s post being reserved for a woman from a scheduled caste (SC), all residents of Uppalan village in Patiala district’s Nabha sub-division boycotted the panchayat elections on Tuesday. No nomination was filed by any resident of the village, not even for the posts of panch.
Villagers claimed that Uppalan’s dalit population was just 10%, but it had been reserved for an SC candidate for two consecutive terms and it had been reserved for an SC woman this time.
Though two people had shown interest in contesting the elections, they went with the village’s larger decision to boycott the polls. A resident, Jasvinder Singh Nambardar, said the dalit sarpanches in the past, too, had just become a rubber-stamp head of the village. “The dalit sarpanch elected in the previous term faced numerous difficulties due to his disadvantaged status. The sarpanch’s stamp too was often in the possession of different upper-caste households. This time, all villagers, including dalits, decided to boycott the elections in resentment against the reservation done in the wrong manner,” he said.
Nambardar claimed that they had requested the Nabha MLA to get the reservation changed, but that did not happen. Rajwinder Singh, a villager, said Upplan comprised 336 voters, of whom 10% were dalit voters. “These families live in economically and socially disadvantaged conditions. Most dalit families here work as waste collectors or labourers around the village, and none of their children has attended college. In fact, only two girls have studied up to Class X. The boys and girls start working as laborers with their parents from a young age,” he added.
As no panchayat has been elected in the village, it remains uncertain whether an administrator will manage the village’s affairs or if the administration will take a separate initiative. Nabha SDM Ismat Vijay Singh said she would seek guidance from higher-ups on future course of action.