As polling for the 30 seats in the first phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal began, a village in the state's Jhargram district, Satyadihi, remains neglected and devoid of all social welfare schemes.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the villagers said that members from the local panchayat hardly visit and never share any information.
"How are we supposed to know that there are such schemes that are meant for us? Forget about leaders or candidates, only a few workers from political parties come here to put up flags. They tell us which party to vote for and leave," a local farmer, Biswanath Middya, told the publication.
The farmers of the village, who have neither heard of Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Krishak Bandhu’ or the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, continue to depend on firewood for domestic fuel.
According to the report, the villagers have not even seen the candidates contesting from their constituency. “We have only seen their photographs in posters. It is like voting for someone invisible,” says Nilima Middya, said.
In the first phase, 30 Assembly constituencies of four tribal-dominated districts — Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur (Part 1) and Paschim Medinipur (Part 1) — went to polls.