All is not well in Amethi: Villagers threaten poll boycott over bad roads

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, local people have put up a banner saying "no road, no vote" outside their village in the Gauriganj tehsil of Amethi, drawing attention to their problems.

A banner came up outside Purey Alpi Tiwari hamlet in Sarmeny village under Jamo block on Monday warning to boycott the coming elections with the locals raising slogans.

Amethi, which is considered as a VVIP constituency, was represented by the Nehru-Gandhi family until Union minister Smriti Irani wrested the Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

Gauriganj SDM Digvijay Singh on Tuesday said information about the villagers' protest has been received and efforts will be made to solve the problem following further investigation.

Omprakash Ojha, a resident of the hamlet, told reporters that there are seven small roads connecting the village to nearby areas but all of them are unpaved.

"Due to lack of access to the village, we have to perform the marriages of our sons and daughters elsewhere. Even bikes cannot move here during the rain. There is no drainage system," Ojha said.

"There is no proper arrangement for drinking water. The scheme of providing tap water to every house under the Jal Jeevan Mission has not yet reached our village. Even the water tap pipeline under the scheme has not been laid here," he added.

Another local Ram Abhilash said there has been no development in Sarmeny since independence.

"We are continuously complaining but no one has given any thought to it. Now all of us have made up our mind that until our problems are not resolved, we will boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections."

After 1976 when Sanjay Gandhi was elected from Amethi, barring a brief period, the seat was represented by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister after being elected from the seat.

The constituency is presently represented by Irani who defeated Congress' Rahul Gandhi in 2019.

A week ago, the people of Bhawanipur village of Sangrampur development block in Amethi had also put up a similar banner with the slogan "no road, no vote" and the administration had promptly met the villagers and pacified them.