'Dhangar villagers await politicians to campaign in their area, now losing hopes’

DHARAMSHALA: Dhangar villagers get drinking water once a week in these summers and proper road connectivity are awaited for last many decades. The people here are awaiting politicians to campaign in their area so that their problems could be heard, but none of the contestants have toured this area so far. This village falls under Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency and people are losing hopes as election campaigns will end by this week.Now, villagers here have announced to boycott polls raising slogan: 'Chunavon ka vahishkar majburi he, sadak hume zaroori he (to boycott polls is a compulsion as roads are necessary for us)'“The only option left with the villagers is to boycott these polls. After BJP government came to power we started highlighting our plight with new hopes and due to elections we have higher expectations. But none of the contestants from Congress or BJP have reached our village so far” said Bipan Kumar, a shopkeeper in this village.People said that they are awaiting proper drinking water facilities and roads from last 50 years. But the wait has already turned long and many of the residents of this area have migrated out of this village, they added.“Our village has a population of about 900 people. But this area has remained neglected for so many years due to which hundreds of others have migrated from this area and many others are aiming to leave to settle down in towns” said Surinder Dhiman, a stamp vendor by profession and resident of this region.When contacted, Meena Devi Pradhan of this village told TOI that it is true that drinking water comes once in a week and the village is not properly connected to the roads. She said that no politician has campaigned their area so far.“Yes the villagers are complaining for last many years, I have also raised this issue at various platforms. Many of them have organized protests and now few of them have said to boycott the polls, but I can’t say anything to them it is their own decision. I have tried to convince them,” she said.BJP has fielded their leader Anurag Thakur, the sitting MP and son of former chief minister PK Dhumal, from this area. Congress has fielded Ramlal Thakur from this Lok Sabha constituency.People of this region kept voting for BJP and Congress since many years but it was during last assembly elections that they elected an independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh from their area. Attempts to contact MLA turned futile, while sources in BJP and Congress revealed that there were no plans of them to reach out to these villagers.