A voter gets the ink mark at a booth in Latehar. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, Dec. 18: The example was set in the previous four phases. Latehar and Manika stuck to the trend in the final round.

Defying the Maoist poll boycott cry and guided by hopes of better administration, swarms of people from remote forest villages flocked to the inaccessible booths of the two constituencies today to vote. The old and even the disabled trekked through rough terrain with the help of crutches to reach their booths.

Though the turnout was low in the morning, the tempo picked up after 10am. At the end of the day, Manika had recorded 54 per cent voter turnout while the figure was slightly higher in Latehar at 57.

“We want good governance. We want our representatives to work for our social and economic uplift. This is why, we ignored the Maoist threat and came out to vote,” said Balram Ganjhu, who voted at a booth in Borsidag, a remote area.

Latehar district, situated about 120km from the state capital along the Ranchi-Daltonganj stretch of NH-75, is a rebel stronghold. According to the villagers, people of other districts do not marry off their girls here as the district has a strong Maoist presence.

The dense forests and rough terrain make the place a safe haven for extremists. Barring a few small towns like Latehar, Chandwa, Balumath, most villages in forests have poor road connectivity.

“I travelled about 5km from Parhin village to reach my booth in Banbirwa. I may not live for long, but I want the people’s representative to undertake real development works,” said 70-year-old physically challenged Amrit Parhaiya.

At Saryu, a Muslim-dominated village that falls under Manika constituency, the scene was similar. Voters here remained vigilant considering the fact that the village was located in deep forest and was known for its vulnerability to Maoist attacks.

“This Assembly polls is different from the earlier one. We have a lot of expectations from our representative,” said Md. Shamsuddin.

While the pattern of voting in Latehar — where RJD sitting MLA Prakash Ram is facing challenge from BJP’s Baidyanath Ram — indicates voters are crying for a change, Manika is witnessing a four-way fight.