Residents of Goa's Marle hamlet, who boycotted 2019 LS Polls for road, now demand bus connectivity

Cotigao (Goa): After boycotting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to highlight their demand for a road, the residents of a hamlet housing 30 families in South Goa are now seeking bus connectivity so that the youth can travel to nearby towns for work.

The residents, however, said they will not shun the general elections this time.

This hamlet - Marle - bordering Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary is part of Poinguinim village panchayat in Canacona taluka of South Goa. The villagers were unanimous in boycotting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to press for their demand for a road.

Due to their pressure, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state finally built a road before the 2022 assembly polls.

"We will not boycott the election this time. But our demand before the authorities is simple. At least, one bus should ply to and from the village," Kusht Gaonkar, a former panch member from Poingunim village panchayat, said.

"In 2019, only one vote was polled at our polling station and that too of an officer who was on duty here. None of the villagers cast their vote," he recalled.

Another villager, Pandurang Gaonkar recalls how the "democratic way of protest in the form of boycott" helped villagers to get their demand fulfilled.

"We have a right not to vote. We appealed to all the villagers not to go to the polling station," he said.

"The issue was only about a 300-metre stretch of a road which was passing through the Cotigao forest area. After we boycotted, the government constructed the road for us before 2022 Goa assembly polls," he said.

The locals say their demand for a bus is a legitimate one as they have to travel almost seven kilometres to reach to the nearest bus station.

"There are job opportunities available in the nearby towns, but our youth cannot go there due to lack of public transport system," Gaonkar said.

The local youth cannot afford to buy a motorcycle to travel that far, he said.

"They will be able to buy a bike only if they earn a salary by doing a job," he said, adding that youth are not ready to leave the village.

He described Marle as a "unique village" saying none of the local residents consumes alcohol or eats chicken.

"As a tradition, we are not allowed to drink alcohol or eat chicken. But we do eat fish," he said.

There are two Lok Sabha constituencies in the state - South Goa and North Goa.

While the South Goa Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Congress' Francisco Sardinha, North Goa's MP is Shripad Naik of the BJP.