Pachmo (Bokaro), Nov. 22: True to his name, Ganit Prajapati, 21, a first-time voter from Pachmo panchayat, which falls in Jhumra Naxalite zone, has done his maths right.

Clearing his intermediate science exams with a high first division in 2011 from Ghato high school in West Bokaro, Ramgarh district, Ganit now works as a supervisor in a factory in Ghato. However, he lives 5km away in Pachmo, which comes in Jhumra under Bokaro district.

The difference between his workplace and village is stark, he feels. "That's why we need to vote for development."

Asked whether he does not fear Maoists who have given a poll-boycott call, which people older than him would obey, Ganit said: "If elders made such mistakes why should I repeat them? Elders who surrendered to the diktat of Naxalites should ask themselves what good they gotout of it."

"I live in Jhumra zone where surviving itself is a tough job," said the young man. "Earlier, we did not have any road, power, drinking water facilities, health facilities and scope for jobs. That's why many youths living in this zone joined Naxalism. But, even they were cheated."

The government has started working in the area, he added. "Roads have been built. Other facilities are in the pipeline.Only the government can give us development," said the self-confessed "young soldier of democracy".