Sukma:

While residents of several remote villages in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar Lok Sabha constituency ignored the Maoists’ call to boycott polls and exercised their right to vote on Friday, people from Puvarti village, home of die-hard Maoist leaders, chose to stay away from the elections process.

Pulwati, a Maoist stronghold in Sukma district bordering Bijapur district, is home to the feared Naxalite leader Sidma, believed to be responsible for several deadly attacks by security forces in Bastar district planner.

Polling was held on Friday in the Bastar Lok Sabha seat, where the voter turnout was 67.56 per cent.

“No elector from Puvarti village exercised their right to vote during Friday’s polling,” Java Patel, station officer of Puvarti polling station, told PTI.

Some officials said villagers did not vote out of fear.

Puvarti Polling Station (No. 4) is established for the voters of three villages: Puvarti, Tekalgudiyam and Jonaguda and is located at Silger village, about 20 to 25 kilometers away from Puvarti.

He said the number of voters in Puvarti was 332, Tekalgudiyam 158 and Jonaguda 157, taking the total number of voters at Puvarti polling station to 547.

He said that a total of 31 voters cast their votes at Puvarti polling station but none of them were from Puvarti village but from Tekalgudiyam and Jonaguda.

In the Bastar Lok Sabha seat and Konta Assembly constituency covering Sukma district, the turnout reached 54.31%.

The Jharghargonda District Maoist Committee put up banners in neighboring villages of Pulwati urging people to boycott the polls.

In February this year, the Chhattisgarh police set up a camp in Pulwati, a move that was hailed as a major achievement for the security forces in the fight against left-wing extremism.

Officials said Purvaldi, located in dense forests about 150 kilometers from Sukma district headquarters, has been deprived of development works and basic facilities due to the Naxal menace and geography.

They added that setting up security camps in remote and Naxalite-affected areas like Pulwati will help thousands of villagers escape the Maoist menace and benefit from the government’s development works and welfare schemes.

It is worth noting that Puvarti is the hometown of former commander of the 1st Battalion of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army Hidma and the current commander Barse Deva.

The 1st Formation of the 1st Battalion of the Maoist People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) played an important role in several deadly attacks in southern Bastar.

In January, security forces clashed with Naxalites before establishing a camp in Tekalgudem, a few kilometers from Purvaldi. In that incident, three CRPF personnel, including two commandos of its elite jungle warfare unit CoBRA, were killed and 17 others were injured.

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