A procession in Sewain asking people to boycott elections. (Ramen Mondal)

Balurghat, April 21: Residents of two villages in South Dinajpur have started a campaign to boycott the polls.

The people of Sewain and Syedpur in Kumarganj, 30km from here, brought out a procession accompanied by a marching band last evening. The slogan was to boycott elections, as the area does not have a metalled road. They have also issued a fatwah to the political parties not to enter their area to seek votes. And the diktat worked. Till date, not a single party has visited the villages.

The residents set up a makeshift office to profess the vote boycott call. The booth is manned by people who remind passers-by of the village decision. There are about 1,200 voters in the area.

The think tank behind the boycott comprises workers of all political parties. There is Brajen Barman of the RSP, Anil Chowdhury of the CPM, Congress’s Habibur Rehman Mondol and the BJP’s Bowenur Bibi. All of them are engaged in a door-to-door campaign exhorting people not to cast their votes till 18-kilometre stretch of road from Sewain to Khanpur via Syedpur was not metalled.

The protesters are distributing leaflets, taking out rallies and meeting regularly to chalk out the strategies.

“This is not only a call for a vote boycott. We will not allow political parties to enter our area under any circumstances. We have had several agitation programmes demanding the improvement of the road but all have gone unheeded by politicians and the district administration,” said Barman.

Last monsoon, students of Syedpur High School had set up a roadblock to protest against the bad road. The protesters had also gheraoed the vehicle of Kumarganj police. But even then, nothing has been done to improve matters.

RSP Lok Sabha candidate of Balurghat Prashanta Majumdar said there was no need for a vote boycott. “We will maintain the continuity in the development work when we return to power.”

Biplab Mitra, the Trinamul Congress candidate, blamed the Left Front for the situation. “But why boycott the polls? We will ensure development after the Left Front loses. Our workers will try to convince the villagers,” he said.