Tribal electorate in Adilabad set example for diligent voting every election

Adilabad: Voters who prefer to abstain on polling day can turn to the utterly backward tribal electorate of the erstwhile unified Adilabad district in Telangana to learn the value of steadfastness in exercising their franchise. For reasons that may sound curious, the poor, rural tribal voters exercised diligence in casting their vote which invariably resulted in a voting percentage of over 90 per cent getting recorded in their polling stations.

For instance, in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, 94 per cent of polling was recorded in Belsari Rampur, Anderband and Markaguda polling stations in Bheempur mandal of Boath (ST) segment. The three are tribal polling stations within a purely tribal mandal.

Weather and bad roads are no deterrence

“Those who do not cast their vote are like the living dead. Our community does not approve of absenteeism in any election,” revealed Pendur Dattu, an elderly voter from the remotely located Metiguda village in Sirpur (U) mandal of KB Asifabad district, as he talked about the reason for tribal diligence in voting.

The difficulty in accessing polling stations or the severity of the prevailing weather does not deter the aboriginal people from voting. It may be mentioned here that until a few years back most of the polling stations in the hilly and forested agency areas were difficult to reach.

For example, participation in elections meant walking 12 km through a densely forested hilly terrain for the 80 voters of Metiguda to reach Pangdi where their polling station was located. The arduous journey of exercising their franchise election after election has resulted in a compilation of many interesting stories and anecdotes by the tribals.

Never quit even after multiple postponements

One such relates to the multiple times that the electors of Metiguda travelled through the undulating terrain to cast their vote in the 2013 sarpanch elections. On the appointed date in July of that year, the voters started their trek amid heavy downpours reaching Pangdi, only to be told in the afternoon that the election was postponed.

As rains continued in heavy spells, the tribals faced the same disappointment for the second time that month when the rescheduled election was postponed again. Any other voter or voter community would have called quits at least at this juncture but not the Adivasis of Metiguda.

“We were successful the third time in August,” recalled Dattu, exhibiting a feeling of relief on his face even 11 years down the line, as he narrated the story of the rescheduled elections. He, however, had no sense of dejection.

The Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribes and is spread over Adilabad, Nirmal and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, has an electorate of nearly 16.47 lakhs including 20 to 25 per cent of tribal voters.

The tribal voters are present in greater concentration in specific polling stations in the Assembly segments of Asifabad, Khanapur and Boath, all three reserved for Scheduled Tribes and part of the Parliamentary Constituency.