India News | Villagers Opposing Parandur Airport Project, Vengaivayal Residents Boycott LS Polls
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu on Friday was boycotted by villagers opposed to the Parandur airport project near here and by people at Vegaivayal in Pudukkottai district to mark their protest over non-arrest of perpetrators in the human faeces incident of 2022 that shocked the state.
Chennai, Apr 17 (PTI) The Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu on Friday was boycotted by villagers opposed to the Parandur airport project near here and by people at Vegaivayal in Pudukkottai district to mark their protest over non-arrest of perpetrators in the human faeces incident of 2022 that shocked the state.
Villagers belonging to Ekanapuram and other nearby areas including Nagapattu under the Parandur panchayat, close to Sriperumbudur, who are opposed to the the greenfield airport project abstained from voting.
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When a government revenue department official visited Ekanapuram village to "convince some government servants" to vote, it led to a fracas as villagers surrounded the official and opposed his visit.
Local people alleged "some government employees" were pressured by authorities to vote and condemned the action.
People belonging to Vengaivayal and Eraiyur villages in Pudukkottai district, both Dalits and caste Hindus, boycotted the LS polls. Villagers staged protests by pinning black pieces of clothes on their clothes, some covered their mouth using black cloth and others held black flag poles demanding justice.
In 2022, human faeces was found mixed in the overhead tank in the village and the matter is under investigation by police.
For reasons involving local issues, people belonging to some other places too avoided casting their votes. It includes Seeragampatti under Natham in Dindigul district and an area in Thoothukudi district, where miscreants pelted stones on a police vehicle.
There were also complaints of names of voters missing from electoral rolls including at Mahathanapuram booth in Mayiladuthurai.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)