Sometimes the fear of being boycotted is more effective than pleading to influential people to complete their work. In a similar incident, after being let down by their chosen Lok Sabha representatives, the villagers of Moi in Pune threatened to boycott the poll, following which the road construction began in their village.

According to the report, the sarpanch of the Moi village Arun Phalke had stated earlier that villagers had given an ultimatum to the politicians that if the road construction work did not begin before the polling date, April 29, they would boycott the polls. With days remaining for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha Elections, the pending work of the road construction began. No Roads, No Vote: Natives of a Bijnor Village Threaten to Boycott Polls. 

Moi is a village situated 30 km from Pune city and has a population 6,500 and voter strength of 1,800. This village comes under the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency which is governed by sitting member of parliament, Shivaji Adhalrao Patil from Shiv Sena.

Villagers stated that the pending road of 16 km length and 12-feet wide is important for them as this would provide the connectivity to the southern industrial belt of Khed taluka.

Expressing the reason for the boycott of polls, Gram panchayat member Rahul Gaware said, as reported by Hindustan Times, "Although the central government sanctioned funds and the work order was issued, work did not begin. Frustrated by this delay, the village gram panchayat passed a resolution in the last week of March declaring a boycott of the Lok Sabha polls."

The fourth phase of Lok Sabha Elections will take place on April 29 and Maharashtra's Shirur will also go to polls. The results would be announced on May 23.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2019 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).