Karnataka assembly elections 2018: Only polls build bridges here

Nagappa Bhoyi walks over 12 km through the thick tropical forests from his village Shirgani to the Vanalli crossing to board a bus which will take him to the areca nut plantation where he works as a labourer. The dirt track which doubles as the path for jungle streams in monsoon becomes treacherously slippery during rain. Bhoyi’s village is not the only one. There are over 50 such villages in the Sirsi assembly constituency of the North Karnataka district which remain cut off from the outside world for most of the monsoon due to heavy rains.

The inaccessible villages whose voice has fallen on deaf ears of those contesting from here for several decades are being wooed for votes once again with assurances and promises in the ensuing assembly elections. “They come and ask for the votes and say ‘we will surely ensure year-long access this time’, but nothing happens. Now I don’t think many labourers are really interested in voting,” he says. “It means losing a day’s salary and gets us nothing.”

This does not seem to worry the sitting MLA Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri (BJP). “I can’t force anyone to vote or not vote. My victory in the last few elections (four) has not depended on a few disgruntled,” he said.

The major problem with the place which thrives on areca nut plantations  is that with arrival of roads the locals labourers want to go to tehsil town where they get paid more.

A landlord points out that labour availability is the worst in areas surrounding the 30 hanging bridges in the region, most of which were built just before some election to woo voters.

Hegde’s rival, Bhimanna Naik says, “If four terms were not enough to bring inclusive vikas here, I don’t think they can or want to in the future too. People should see through and vote for change.”

 (By Yogesh Pawar, DNA)