Maharashtra elections 2024: Disgruntled fishermen boycott voting in Uran

A large number of fishermen displaced by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust JNPT phase 2 project since last four decades staying in Hanuman Koliwada transit camp Uran refrained from exercising their right to vote on WednesdayOut of approximately 1212 eligible voters about 489 villagers cast their votes and 723 refrained from voting on Wednesday Local villagers claim that those who voted were coerced to vote by the local political party workers The police rubbished the claims stating that no such complaints were received and that it was a free and fair electionCoerced to voteParmanand Koli secretary of the Maharashtra Small Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union said ldquoHanuman Koliwada has 256 affected families including approximately 1212 eligible voters Allegedly local political party workers coerced some fishermen from the village particularly firsttime voters by claiming that if they did not participate in the election they would lose their voting rights and their election cards would be cancelledrdquoldquoSome privately employed residents feared losing their jobs while senior citizens worried about being denied rations from fairprice shops Additionally those affiliated with political parties also cast their votes under similar pressurerdquo he addedWhen asked if those who were coerced had filed any police complaints Koli responded negatively He further mentioned that out of the 475 voters around 70 are from the neighbouring Bhavara village and not from Hanuman KoliwadaThe fisherfolk who votedLast moment decisionMost of the Hanuman Koliwada fishermen affected by the JNPT project chose not to vote after a polling booth was set up at the Zilla Parishad ZP school in their village on Tuesday evening The decision came after local police and authorities intervened arguing that setting up the booth elsewhere would inconvenience nearby villagersldquoWe initially opposed the booth being set up at our ZP school because our village is a transit camp and as per the state election commission polling booths are not allowed in transit camps However we eventually gave in when the request was made at the last momentrdquo said KoliChannel bandhldquoIt was our way of expressing revolt against the political parties and the candidates who did nothing beyond lip service in the last so many years and did not actually work for the wellbeing of the fishermen Hence we boycotted the electionrdquo said Kolimidday in its article titled lsquoPort of broken promisesrsquo dated November 19 had highlighted after 40 years without rehabilitation or compensation fisherfolk who lost ancestral land to JNPT phase 2 vow to boycott the assembly election and escalate their protest with a lsquoChannel Bandhrsquo to block JNPTrsquos navigation channel on Constitution Day November 26lsquoPolling went smoothrsquoVishal Nehul assistant commissioner of police Port Division Uran said ldquoWe arranged a series of meetings with district administration and Hanuman Koliwada fishermen who were opposing the election but finally we could succeed in persuading them with talksrdquoWhen asked if they made any preventive arrest ACP Nehul said ldquoWe did not make any preventive arrest or detention and the election went peacefully As per our records 475 out of 1212 eligible voters from Hanuman Koliwada cast their vote which is almost 3927 per cent voting turnoutrdquoldquoThe fishermen are firm in their decision so far and we will take appropriate measures as required to maintain law and orderrdquo Nehul added