)
Ghanshyam Sahu, the former sarpanch of Malpuri-Khurd, slips into silence when it comes to support Virendra Kurre—the first candidate in Chhattisgarh contesting election from jail.
Kurre has been booked for spearheading and masterminding the agitation of villagers that turned violent and culminated into setting a major portion of JK Lakshmi Cement’s under construction plant in Malpuri-Khurd of Durg district on April 4 this year. The company is setting up a 2.7 Million Tonne facility.
The villagers had been agitating against the land acquired from them in the pretext of taking up agriculture work that was later handed over to the company. The incident shocked the entire state as this was the first case when any industrial facility was set on fire. Kurre was booked under stringent Public Security Act (PSA) and had been denied bail.
“Since he was fighting for the cause of villagers, we decided to field him in the assembly election,” Shailkumar of Malpuri-Khurd told Business Standard. The youths mobilised fund from their resources and canvassed for Kurre who had been detained in the Durg Central Jail.
Sahu explained it was only 25% people in the village of 550 voters who fielded Kurre. “The youth were enthusiastic and did not take the entire village into confidence,” he said, adding that Malpuri-Khurd remains a divided house when it comes to support Kurre who had been allotted Almirah symbol to contest the polls from Ahiwara assembly segment.
A large number of villagers are resented as the fire incident that created a rift between the people and the plant authorities. “The youths were working as labourers in the under construction plant and had been relieved soon after the incident,” Ramu Sahu said. When the villagers approached the plant officials, they refused to provide work, he added.
Even as the constituency went to the polls Tuesday, the village missed the election fever. A group of youths sitting in the village square were least bothered to cast the vote. The entire village for which Kurre reportedly “revolted” does not have a single banner and poster of his seeking votes.
Even the villagers were apathetic to exercise their franchise. As the half day of polling passed, only about half the village had come out to cast their votes. The Presiding Officer of Karadih booth, set up for the Malpuri-Khurd voters, said about 57% voting was recorded in the booth till 2.30 pm.
The Karadih booth bore a deserted look. But the four jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) had been guarding the booth with full vigilance along with a head constable of Chhattisgarh police.
“The village was otherwise very peaceful, but the incident at JK Lakshmi cement plant had change the scene and made the booth sensitive,” the head constable said. While the neighbouring booth—just a kilometre away—is guarded by only a one jawan of state police, Karadih had a thick security blanket.
