Politicians skip this remote MP village even during poll time

For reaching the polling station at Jhandana village ahead of the November 17 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, poll officials will have to first ride in a boat carrying the electronic voting machines with them, and then undertake a difficult journey on foot in a hilly area.

There are 763 registered voters among around a thousand residents of this remote village in Alirajpur assembly constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, but no candidate has bothered to visit the place, locals said on Thursday.

The polling station has been set up in the gram panchayat building.

The village is surrounded by the backwaters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in neighbouring Gujarat.

While much of the Jhandana village was inundated years ago, its tribal residents are not ready to leave even though it means they have to live without basic facilities like a motorable road.

The village is barely 60 km from the district headquarters of Alirajpur, but seems to be decades behind in terms of development and infrastructure.

The only sign of elections is the flags of political parties seen over a couple of houses.

Most of the people here speak 'Bhili', local language.

Vandana (23), a villager, said, "There are no proper roads and we have to rely on boats to connect with the outside world. Whenever someone falls sick, we take the person to the nearby hospital in a boat only."

The woman, who has studied up to Class 10, said surviving in the area becomes difficult especially when the level of backwaters rises after the rains, and a lot of people have migrated to Gujarat in search of employment.

Ironically, drinking water is a luxury in this village surrounded by backwaters. The situation worsens in the summer, the locals said.

Prem Singh Solanki, 35, a fisherman, said, "Political leaders had promised in the last elections to provide drinking water to homes, but so far the promise has not been fulfilled. Water is scarce for both humans and cattle."

The villagers tried to install a borewell some time ago, but it did not strike water due to the rocky terrain of the mountainous area.

Alirajpur collector Abhay Arvind Bedekar said there is an alternative land route to the village, but one has to walk for about five kilometers.

Villagers have been demanding a concrete road, but it will have to pass through forest land, he said.

"We have written to the forest department for its permission to construct the road. Once we get the approval, a concrete road will be built under the remote village road scheme, he told PTI.

The administration keeps motorboats ready to take villagers to the nearest hospital in case of emergency, the collector said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Nagar Singh Chouhan from the Alirajpur constituency while the Congress has given ticket to incumbent MLA Mukesh Patel.