Battle for UP: 'Bandar bhagao, vote pao'

Lucknow: The Chaina village in Malihabad, on the outskirts of Lucknow, has put up a unique demand for the elections. The residents have said that they will boycott the polls unless monkeys are driven out.

Chaina village has about 300 voters in a population of about 650.

Jitendra Dixit, a local resident, says: "'Bandar bhagao, vote pao' is our slogan for this election. Monkeys are a major problem here. Over a dozen residents and children have been bitten by monkeys in the past one week.

"Monkeys invade kitchens and spoil the food. We are forced to keep the children indoors. The people are living in a state of fear and our pleas to the administration have fallen on deaf ears."

The State Election office has now taken cognisance of the problem and has directed the district administration to take immediate steps to solve the problem.

A district official has said that they will send a 'langur' along with its owner to the village. The presence of langur will drive away monkeys.

The villagers, meanwhile, want the monkeys to be caught and released in some other forest area.

"Langurs can be a temporary measure but we want the monkeys to be caught, not just driven away, because they will return sooner than later," says Dixit.