Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

‘No road, no vote’ reads banners put up by aggrieved residents in Kota colony

- Aabshar H Quazi htraj@hindustant­imes.com

NEGLECT After winning the last election, the MLA and corporator have not visited the locality KOTA:Tired

of the apathy of public representa­tives, residents of a colony in Kota have put up banners, which said that they won’t vote for the local BJP MLA and BJP corporator in the next assembly polls.

The residents alleged that after winning the last election, the MLA and corporator have not bothered to visit the locality even once.

Two banners, which have been put up at Namrata Aawas colony, read, “Road nahi to vote nahi...Bhajpa (BJP) ke parshad aur vidhayak jeetne ke baad yahan kabhi nahi aaye...to vote maangane bhi nahi aaye (No road, no vote... The BJP corporator and MLA have never come here after winning elections, so they shouldn’t come now asking for votes).”

The banner has been put up by the associatio­n of residents, Namrata Aawas Sangharsh Samiti.

When contacted the Sangharsh Samiti members, on the condition of anonymity, admitted that they had put up the banners.

They have refused to reveal their names fearing backlash from politician­s.

The members said that there are no roads or drains in the locality and residents are facing problems commuting.

Also, there are huge potholes on the roads.

“They came to the locality before the last assembly and municipal polls but after that, the MLA and corporator have not come back to solve our problems, so the samiti has put up the banners,” said a samiti member.

The samiti’s allegation­s were confirmed by other residents of the locality.

“The colony roads become muddy as there are no proper roads and drains,” said a resident, Hariom Verma (22).

When HT’s reporter visited the colony, he saw that the roads exist only partially, some areas have roads while some don’t.

The regional BJP MLA from the locality Bhawani Singh Rajawat, has won thrice from Ladpura (Kota), while Durgesh Kumari is the corporator from municipal ward number 61.

Talking about the allegation­s, Rajawat said that it’s a developing colony and developmen­t works are carried on according to the availabili­ty of funds.

Work will be done when the budget is available.

Refuting allegation­s that she had not visited the colony even once after winning the municipal polls in 2014, Durgesh Kumari, said, “Developmen­t of the entire municipal ward or a colony is not possible at a time, but official estimates for road constructi­on have been submitted to the Urban Improvemen­t Trust (UIT) Kota.”

She added that she will make efforts to complete road constructi­on before the end of her tenure.

 ?? A.H.ZAIDI/HT PHOTO ?? Banners put up by residents of Namrata Aawas.
A.H.ZAIDI/HT PHOTO Banners put up by residents of Namrata Aawas.

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