The Villagers of Bindhakata Gaon Panchayat under Chabua Legislative Assembly constituency in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district have decided to boycott panchayat election because the people are not getting any benefit from Government for the past several years.
Bindhakata is the ancestral village of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
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The villagers are fed up with the false promises made by the leaders during election and decided to boycott the panchayt election.
The villagers under No 7 and 8 wards of the panchayt who are from the Dodhia village located in the core area of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park have decided to boycott the panchayt polls.
“We have decided to boycott the panchayt poll because the political parties betrayed us for more than 50 years now in the name of providing resettlement to the flood and erosion affected people but in reality they have done nothing. We are fed with the false promises made by the leader of the political parties,” said Jyotish Kumar Patir, a local youth of Bindhakata Gaon Panchayat.
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Accordingly, 5 among the 6 candidates – two each from BJP and Congress – and one from AGP had withdrawn their nomination papers on Monday, while another AGP candidate allowed his nomination paper to get rejected by not submitting caste certificate as per wishes of the villagers.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal sent Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Naba Kumar Doley to convince the people to withdraw their decision and participate in the panchyat election but the villagers didn’t listen to the minister and decided to boycott panchayat election.
“No one from our village will participate in the upcoming panchayat poll because the Government has betrayed us. We are fed up with false promises from the successive governments and also from politicians. In 1952 our people were rehabilitated at the Dodhia forest village by the then government,” said Minturaj Morang, advisor of Tinsukia district Takam Mishing Porin Kebang.
Dodhia forest village has a population of 5,000 and 2,300 voters.
Morang alleged, “In 1999 Dibru-Saikhowa was declared as a national park and our people are living in the forest before Dibru-Saikhowa was declared as National Park but till date we are not given proper rehabilitation,”.
He said last year then Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma gave written assurance and promised that the government would rehabilitate the villagers within eight months, but that promise has not been fulfilled by the Government.
A total of 3214 candidates are in fray for the Panchayat election in Dibrugarh district for the first phase of polling in the state to be held on December 5.
A total of 65 candidates for Zila Parishad Members, 268 for Anchalik Panchayat members, 288 for Gaon Panchayat President and 2593 for Gaon Panchayat Ward members remained in the contest after the last date of withdrawal of nominations on Sunday.
Election will be held in the district for 23 Zila Parishad members, 7 Anchalik Parishad members, 93 Gaon Panchayat President and 930 Gaon Panchayat Members covering Joypur, Tingkhong, Tengakhat, Khowang, Panitola, Lahoal and Barbaruah Anchalik Panchayats/ blocks.