SANTOSH NAIK
When Dharbandora taluka came into existence, there were fears that the difficulties faced by the people would be put on the backburner given that other bigger talukas may be given more importance. These fears appear to have come true for the residents who feel that the issues of the taluka are often ignored by the State. So when it comes to the Lok Sabha elections, the villagers express that they are not too bothered by it as for them it is their demands that matter and they have little faith in the electorate system in addressing these demands
“I have voted time and time again but nothing has changed but in fact the situation we face currently has worsened. We are fed up with the political scenario,” said a motorcycle pilot while elucidating how they have only been neglected by the State or Central government, which has not helped their taluka or its residents.
He added that the voters were not interested in any ‘packages’ but wanted good and a non corrupt administration where issues such as high inflation could be reduced amongst others, to help the common man get relief.
“Nobody comes to me after the elections. They only visit during the time of campaigning. I have been voting for the last forty years but in that time the only change I can see is that the country’s rich including the politicians have become richer and the country’s poor have become poorer,” said Umesh Naik, senior citizen from Dharbandora.
When asked if he had any hope that the elections could help address, he felt that it could only happen if the elections root out corruption.
“Due to corruption, money is only going in the going in hands of few people or politicians. I only hope from election that this corruption is fully controlled so that poor people are benefitted and get their money and livelihood,“added Umesh.
When it comes to choosing who to vote for, villagers point out the electoral patterns depend on the party symbol more than the name of the selected candidate. Pointing out that this has been the case for years; villagers say that finally, they go by the advice of their family elders, village leaders or local politicians and not so much on the purported image of the candidate. “We cast our vote based on the party symbol but we don’t really know how our vote will help them get elected,” quipped a villager, further questioned why they should focus so much on the general elections.
Another villager felt when the voters go to the polling booths; some of them do not know the difference between the Lok Sabha and State assembly elections.
Another villager pointed out that local politicians control the self help groups by way of funding and that the influence of these politicians is also taken into consideration. Sunayana Naik who has studied upto the ninth standard, said that earlier when she used to go to the polling booth, she would vote on the advice of her husband and now does so, on the advice of the self help group and that they vote as per the party symbol the group is affiliated to.
—
Devendra Gaonkar
Surla is a medium size village in Bicholim taluka with a small population that is under a thousand. If there is any village that has felt it has been ignored by the Lok Sabha elections, it is Surla and the villagers feel the amount of attention the MPS give an area is proporotionate to its size and the fact that there are under 100 families residing in Surla could be the reason why they have been neglected.
To back their argument, they point out that in the last two decades, not a single Member of Parliament (MP) had visited their village and neither had they carried out any development works such as building a community hall with the MPLad funds in Surla.
They reiterated that they are not bothered by the Lok Sabah elections as the MPs were not bothered during their local issues.
“During our fight against the Liqour bar issues in the village, the North Goa MP did not support us so why should we support the MP,” said local villagers while also questioning the presence of the MP in Surla at times when it could have helped their cause.
“I have been the panch member for the last two terms of Surla village, but the North Goa MP has never visited our village in the last ten years and till date, has not done any development work in our village through the MP funds, “ says Suryakant Gaonkar, Deputy Sarpanch, Surla village.
“There is no proper electricity power in our village since the past many years. Our village school students attend classes in dark class rooms. There is no playing ground for our village school children and no proper toilets. We have raised these issues with the several politicians and political leaders, but no one has bothered. Now we are also not bothered about the Lok Sabha elections,“ added Mahadev Gaonkar, a villager.
Sashikant Gaonkar, another village concurred with the sentiment that they should not be bothered about LS elections when the politicians have not bothered about them.
“Ours is a small population but that does not mean we should be ignored. Our main village road is in a very bad condition and our bridge is in a dilapidated condition. Besides this there is no playground or cemetery in the village. The politicians The Politicians are not bothered of our problems despite our several reminders,” added Sashikant.
