Malekudiya tribals deprive of basic facilities
Demand for road, electrification remains a distant dream
Belthangady, August 10: Though the Malekudiya tribals in Banjaru Male in Neriya village in the taluk have been living without basic infrastructure for decades, neither the elected representatives nor the officials came forward to fulfill their demands of a road connectivity and electrification. The residents have been running from pillar to post to get their works done. Successive governments also have failed to provide the minimum basic facilities.
The previous Congress government had released Rs 2 crore in the last days for concretization of road. Shortly after this, Assembly election was announced and the project was put in cold storage. Even after a new government was formed, there is no mention of this project. When the tribals ask the authorities, they said they do not have any information about the project. Though they ran from one office to another with the sanction letter, they are not getting proper response. Now, the residents believe that they were once again deceived by the government and the elected representatives.
They boycotted election
When the Assembly elections were declared, the Banjaru Male residents had decided to boycott the elections. They had announced that they would not vote in the election. At this time, Election Commission officers and district officials had visited the colony and tried to convince them by showing the government order and information on funds. They had given the official order copy of the government. Unfortunately, the same officials who had shown the order copies, are now trying to mislead the people.
But district coordinator Hemalatha said that she does not have any information on Rs 2 crore released for concrete road in the colony of Banjaru Male tribals. She did not get any order for this. Earlier, Rs 1 crore fund was released to the colony and the work was also done, she said.
Tribal Rights Coordination Committee leader Shekhar Laila said that the successive governments have been cheating the Malekudiya tribals who were the residents of the colony for years. They were not given minimum basic facilities. Officials used to visit the colony and give promises. The funds released by the government will not go anywhere. If the work is not being taken up, the authorities should take action against the officer responsible for it, he said.
Banjaru Male resident Nagesh said that no one has objected to take up road works and provide electrification. The Yenepoya Estate authorities have given their permission to lay the road in their area. But the government has been cheating the people. Three months ago, officials came to their colony and said that the funds were available for the works and now, they were telling that they do not have funds. The authorities should take steps to take up the works with the funds released already, he demanded.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
