Tribals walk 8 km to exercise their franchise
Residents of Sampangipadu village who walked 8 kilometres through forests to reach the nearest polling centre to cast their votes during the second phase of panchayat polls in Vizianagaram district on Saturday
Salur (Vizianagaram): The tribals struggle on hilltop villages for their survival. During rainy season, it is a very hard task to reach hospitals by crossing streams and hills.
But during polling for panchayat elections, they need to walk a long distance to go to the polling stations.
On Saturday, the natives of Sampangipadu grama panchayat walked about 8 kilometres through streams, valleys and hills and finally reached the polling station set up at Dalayi Valasa. The voters from Kagaruda, Gadivalasa, Konkamanidi and Galipadu have walked for more than two hours and cast their votes. Out of 845 voters, only 297 exercised their franchise.
Once, the area was Maoist-affected, but the voters did not hesitate to walk for more than two hours. They along with their families arrived at the polling booth at 8 am and cast their votes before walking back to their hilltop villages. The poling staff was amazed to see their commitment.