UP: Fatehpur Sikri villagers boycott elections over water canal demand

AGRA: Unhappy over lack of basic amenities such as water canal to irrigate farm field, proper roads and others, a village in Fatehpur Sikri parliamentary constituency boycotted the polls in second phase.
By the time this report was filed, not a single vote was cast in booth number 41 of Nagla Mangoli Kala village under Kiraoli tehsil which has over 600 voters.
The villagers want immediate constructions of 1.5 km long water canal between Nagla Mangoli and Nagla Ghiro for farm field irrigation.
“The local villagers have alleged that even after giving votes to local leaders, they have been ignored for many years. They are still forced to live a tough life without proper basic amenities like road, water canal, education and others. The villagers want immediate constructions of 1.5 km long water canal between Nagla Mangoli and Nagla Ghiro for farm field irrigation," Kishan Singh, gram pradhan of the village, told TOI.
Nagla Mangoli Kala is situated on the border of UP and Rajasthan border and the Utangan, a monsoon river is more than two km away from the village.
Taking cognizance of the protest, Kiraoli tehsildar Raju Kumar along with a police team visited the village and requested villagers to participate in the voting. “We have heard the plea of villagers, but cannot construct canal at the moment. We just want peaceful polls, hence have requested villagers to participate in the elections and cast their votes,” said Kiraoli tehsildar.
Meanwhile, similar protests were reported in other parts of Agra district, but after the intervention of district administration, local villagers started coming to polling centers.
For instance, villagers of Quriupari Pura of Pinhat police jurisdiction in Fatehpur Sikri constituency staged protest for poor roads and lack of basic amenities in Chambal ravine. Though after assurance by SDM Bah, the villagers went to booth 70 to cast their vote.
SDM Mahesh Pratap said, “Locals were enraged over lack of development and were refusing to participate in election, but after intervention they agreed to cast their votes.”
Similarly, villagers of Shamshabad based Nagla Shaadi and Nayapura Khander villages initially refrained themselves to participate in elections due to poor basic amenities, but later joined after district administration's appeal.