Hyderabad: The residents of Mailaram village in Kodair mandal of Nagarkurnool district have resolved not to vote, or let any political party seek votes in their village for the coming general elections. The reason: they are against the mining of a hillock in their village.
On Tuesday, the villagers held a rally with the slogan “Gutta Muddu Vote Vaddu” which translates to “hillock is dear, we don’t want to vote.”
The villagers say that they have nothing except the hillock as a source of natural resource for the village, whether it is for grazing their livestock on the hillock during the rainy season or letting wildlife (including peacocks) survive on it, in addition to four temples located on the hillock.
The villagers claim that since 2004, there have been persistent efforts of the mining department to excavate that hillock, which the villagers have been opposing.
“They come here once in two years with their vehicles and machinery, but we have prevented them from destroying the hillock. This time around, if they come here to mine the hillock, or if any political leaders come here seeking votes, we will not let them either enter or exit the village,” said one of the protesting villagers.
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