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UP Elections: Why 24 Villages in Firozabad’s Tundla are Threatening to Boycott Polls

Villagers are angry because the much promised bridge over river Yamuna to cut down travel time has been delayed for years, and their complaints have gone unheard.
Voting in India

Lucknow: Big promises are made by candidates during election season, but most often these turn out to be mere lip services once they are elected to power.  For instance, three successive governments have failed to erect two pillars in Firozabad’s Tundla Assembly segment, where a bridge is being constructed since the past 13 years over Yamuna river. With a proposed budget of Rs 20 crore, this bridge is aimed at shortening the distance between Firozabad and Agra by 50 kilometres, which, at present, is around 62 km.

About 28 km away from Firozabad district headquarters lies Tundla’s Anwara village. Agra would be about two-three kilometres from there if there was a bridge over Yamuna. But, in absence of the bridge, one has to cover a distance of around 50 km through an alternative route. 

The much promised bridge was to be built on Yamuna river from Anwara to Mehranaharganj Ghat, but has not been completed till date.

This is why the residents of nearly two dozens villages have vowed to boycott the upcoming Assembly polls.

According to Agra-based social activist Harendra Singh, even though an exercise is underway to run a bullet train in the country, boats are the only mode of transport for villagers of the area, who prefer to directly cross Yamuna instead of taking the alternate route.

Boats are their lifeline. But, people have to suffer the most when someone falls ill. Singh said in the past two years, three children got drowned in Mehranaharganj when they were trying to cross the river using inflated tubes. At least 5,000 people are affected because of the absence of the bridge, he added.

Tundla MLA Prempal Singh Dhangar told NewsClick that he did not get much time as he was elected as an MLA in a bye-election and, therefore, he could not get the work completed. “If I win the election this time, the unfinished work will be completed as a priority,” he promised. He refused to comment on why the work was not done in the past.

Uttar Pradesh had a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government from 2007-2012 and Samajwadi Party (SP) government from 2012-2017. From 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been ruling in the state.

Angry villagers said elections come and go, but their representatives had never understood their “pain” or even lent their ears to their long-standing complaints. They said they had have met their MLA several times, urging them to resolve their issues but in vain. Therefore, the 2022 Assembly elections are failing to enthuse them.

The construction of the bridge had started in 2009-10 when BSP supremo Mayawati was chief minister. Once completed, the bridge would have eased the movement of people of two dozen villages, including Tanora, Nurpur, Samogar, Kabis, Mehra Naharganj, Bisarna, Kundaul, Bamrauli Katara, Dhamota.

The villagers blamed “the lethargic attitude and disinterest of officers and public representatives, who are not allowing the bridge to be built.”

Hemlata Diwakar, BJP MLA from Agra (rural) constituency, said the government has already allocated a budget of Rs 34 crore for the construction of the bridge. “The work could not begin because of non-invitation of a tender. The work will start after the end of the model code of conduct ends,” she added.

The delay in completing the construction has caused two-pronged losses. The Yamuna river has shrunk in the border of Firozabad district and has spread in the border of Agra. The bridge was almost complete, and only an approach road measuring around 200-250 metres had to be constructed. But now, this distance has increased. The land of dozens of villages, including Samogar, Gurja, Tanora, Nurpur, Mehra, Naharganj, Kabis and Bisarna, has got submerged in Yamuna, as it expanded on the other side.

AGRA VILLAGERS TOO PLANNING TO BOYCOTT POLLS

The alleged neglect of Agra (rural) Assembly constituency by sitting BJP is likely to hit the poll prospects of the saffron party’s nominee (Baby Rani Maurya) in the upcoming elections. Upset with the incomplete bridge, voters from at least 10 villages of this constituency are also threatening to boycott the polls.

Announcing the boycott, the residents here have put up banners announcing that MP Rajkumar Chahar and MLA Hemlata Diwakar have been “absconding”.

Nurpur residents Pramod Kumar and Bighadhar said the MP and the MLA did not show up in the constituency in the past five years after getting elected.

“We lodged our complaint with them with regard to the incomplete bridge and also campaigned on social media, but nothing has happened. Now, we have decided if the work of building the bridge is not started before the election, we will boycott the polls and no leader from any political party will be allowed to enter our villages,” they threatened.

The BJP has fielded former Governor Baby Rani Maurya from Agra Rural Assembly seat. Though she is confident of her victory because of being a dalit candidate in this dalit majority seat, there is huge anti-incumbency against the incumbent MLA who also belongs to the same party. There have been huge protests in the area against the saffron party. Sensing trouble, BJP had to change the candidate with Baby Rani Maurya trying her luck this time.

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