As tribals of the Kinnaur district in Mandi parliamentary constituency bypoll in Himachal Pradesh (HP) have been organising campaigns for NOTA or boycotting elections over upcoming hydel power projects on the Sutlej river and the implementation of Forest Rights Act in “right spirit”, both the BJP and Congress candidates have missed the brewing anger.
First, it was Rarang gram sabha, which decided to boycott the bypoll slated for October 30, but a day before the election Jangi and Akpa too joined them. The bypoll results will be announced on November 2.
Rarang gram sabha president Rajinder Negi said, “We have been continuously sending memorandums to the successive governments since 2008-09, demanding to scrap the 804 MW Jangi-Thopan hydropower project. However, our demands have fallen on deaf ears. Despite our efforts, the incumbent government has signed an MOU with the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) for the allotment of the project.”
“Our gram sabha (Jangi) has decided to join the call for the boycott of the Mandi bypoll,” said Budha Sain Negi, president of Jangi Panchayat Sangharsh Samiti.
“Akpa Mahila Mandal and Yuvak Mandal too have decided to join the boycott movement,” said Yuvak Mandal President Gian Kumar.
At the heart of the campaigns on Facebook and WhatsApp are Himlok Jagriti Manch and Zila Van Adhikaar Samiti, which have members from most of the villages.
The recent landslides in the Sangla valley on July 25 killing nine people and another at Nigulsari on August 11, killing 28, have intensified protests in Kinnaur against the hydel projects. The tribals believe that the continued construction activity of hydel projects over the years has made the fragile mountains prone to landslides.
One could see the ‘No Means No’ campaign posters across the district on shops, cars, public places, and on social media, sending the message that no more hydel power projects should come up now.
As BJP candidate Brig Khushal Singh Thakur (retd) and Congress nominee Pratibha Singh have hardly supported their demands, the clamour for the boycott of the poll is spreading.
“We have recently issued an appeal to both the Congress and BJP and also their candidates, Singh and Thakur respectively, to clarify their stand on the issues of hydel power projects and Forest Rights Act, 2006, but in vain. The local issues are being neglected. On the other hand, the BJP is seeking votes on the Modi government’s flagship programmes and Covid vaccination while the Congress is harping on price rise,” said Jiya Lal Negi, who is president of Zila Van Adhikaar Samiti.
Since the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, came as many as 1,016 claims for individual and community rights were filed from Kinnaur district alone, but none of them were cleared, according to information gathered from local DC office.
The Him Lok Jagriti Manch and Zila Van Adhikaar Samiti have been claiming that the Forest Rights Act was not implemented in the right spirit.
When contacted, both Congress candidate Pratibha Singh and BJP candidate Brig Kushal Singh Thakur said that they would approach the natives and look into the issues troubling them.