The decision of the people of Kangku circle under Lower Siang district not to participate in election process unless they are provided with road connectivity has brought back the memories of similar kind of protest launched in 2014 by villagers of Sissen in East Siang district. Prior to 2014 general election, the villagers of Sissen took “no road, no vote” stance in protest against the absence of proper road connectivity to their village. The villagers did not participate in the election process despite several attempt made by election commission and district administration. Their protest has been futile because till now the said village has not been connected by road.
Now the citizen of Kangku circle has adopted same tactic and it will be interesting to see how govt reacts to the situation. It is unfortunate that citizens are being forced to resort to measure like boycotting election to seek developmental package. In a democracy people use the election process to elect leaders of their choice with the hope of accelerating the developmental activities. But the politicians of Arunachal has miserably failed the people of state and left them with no choice but to boycott important democratic process like election. This is sad and is matter of deep concern. The politicians need to introspect and ask themselves some tough question. In the meantime the state government should listen to the grievances of the people of Kangku circle and try to solve it. Boycotting of election will send out wrong message and will hurt the image of state.