Village In Maharashtra's Parabhani Constituency Decides To Boycott LS Polls Over Encroachment Issues

Parbhani Collector visited the village in the constituency and urged the villagers to cast their ballots, assuring them that their issue would be resolved.

In the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, eight constituencies of Maharashtra were scheduled to cast ballots on Friday. However, residents of a village in the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency, one of the eight seats that went for polling today, decided to boycott the elections to showcase protest against the issue of encroachments in their region. Following this incident, the collector had to visit the village to appeal them to cast votes, news agency PTI reported.

Polling in Parbhani, Hingoli, and Nanded constituencies in Marathwada began on Friday morning at 7 AM.

Parbhani Collector and Returning Officer Raghunath Gawde arrived at Balsa Khurd village, which is located approximately 7 km from Parbhani city, and interacted with villagers, appealing them to cast their votes.

The Balsa Khurd village has 1,200 voters and had boycotted the Lok Sabha elections over the longstanding issue of encroachments in their area.

During the meeting with the collector, the villagers sought assurance from the administration that their issues pertaining to encroachment would be solved.

"We will hold a meeting on the encroachment issue once the election code of conduct is lifted, and the problem will be addressed in a month," PTI quoted Gawde as saying.

A resident of the village commented on the incident saying that the villagers will exercise their franchise only if the administration gives an assurance in writing regarding the resolution of the issue, PTI reported. 

Voter Turnout In Maharashtra Till 1 PM In Phase 2 Polling

As per the data released by the Election Commission of India, Maharashtra clocked 31.77% voter turnout till 1 PM.

In the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, polling is being held in eight constituencies. These include Wardha, Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, and Yavatmal-Washim. 

According to EC's data, Wardha has recorded a 32.32 percent turnout while Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Hingoli have recorded 32.25, 31.40, 29.07, and 30.46 percent voter turnout till 1 PM, respectively. Nanded and Parabhani have recorded 32.93 percent and 33.88 percent, respectively. Yavatmal-Washim recorded a voter turnout of 31.47 percent till 1 PM today.