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Last Updated: October 19, 2023, 10:14 IST
Most of the new polling booths are in villages which were so far dominated by Naxals. (News18)
Dubbakonta was the hub of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) till last year because of which villagers had never seen a polling booth or cast their vote. However, EVMs will arrive in the area for the first time on November 7
It’s a festival they have never seen or experienced. “We have never voted,” Laxman, a resident of Sukma’s Dubbakonta village, says nonchalantly. He cannot remember his exact age but the middle-aged man is confident he has never seen or heard about anyone from his village voting.
The claim is backed by fellow villagers sitting in the ‘chaupal’. Dubbakonta was the hub of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) till last year. The armed wing of CPI (Maoist) carried out its annual PLGA week festivities in this village, nestled about 120 kilometres inside Sukma. “Andar waale log (Naxals) manaa karte the, isliye kabhi vote nahi diya,” Bheema Mandi explains.
The group is not sure yet if they will get to vote for the first time this year but CRPF officials at the just-opened Dubbakonta camp claim that a message has been conveyed to the villagers that EVMs will arrive in the area for the first time on November 7. “Our camp across the road will be the strong room for EVMs. A polling booth will be set up in this village,” NK Singh, commanding officer of the battalion handling the camp, told News18.
120 Villages to See Voting for First Time
Across Bastar, 120 villages will either vote for the first time in the 2023 assembly elections or see a polling booth in their village for the first time since Independence.
More than 126 new polling stations are being established across 12 constituencies and seven districts of Bastar region for voting in first phase of the assembly election on November 7.
Of the 126 new booths, 15 are located in Kanker assembly constituency, 12 in Antagarh, five in Bhanupratappur in Kanker district, 20 in Konta of Sukma district, 14 in Chitrakot, four in Jagdalpur, one in Bastar district, 13 in Kondagaon, 19 in Keshkal assembly in Kondagaon district, nine in Narayanpur, eight in Dantewada and six in Bijapur.
Inspector General of Police P Sundarraj called the elections the “victory of ballot over bullet”. “These new polling stations will narrate the story to Bastar’s future generations about the triumph of ‘ballot over bullet’,” he said.
Security Camps Aid Voting
Most of the new polling booths are in villages which were so far dominated by Naxals. Villages like Dubbakonta in Sukma had never seen polling while in others like Pahuna and Cherpal in Dantewada, locals had to trek through the jungle and take a boat ride across river Indravati to reach the nearest polling booth. The construction of the Chindarnar Bridge on Indravati last year means Election Commission officials will be able to take the EVMs right to the doorstep of the village.
More than 65 new camps have been set up in the interiors of Bastar by central and state forces in the past one year. This has led to construction of roads and mobile towers and general developmental infrastructure in the erstwhile ‘liberated zone’.
Officials speaking to News18 hope that the enthusiasm levels this year will be higher amongst first-time voters since they won’t have to risk Naxal fire or cross hills and rivulets to cast their votes.
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