Malad East residents vote to stay away

Marathi actress dies post delivery; kin blame lack of ambulance

MUMBAI: A 25-year-old actress from the Marathi film industry and her newborn baby died within hours in Hingoli on Sunday apparently due to unavailability of ambulance, a police official said on Monday.

Relatives of the deceased actress, Pooja Zunjar, claimed she would have been alive had they managed to get an ambulance in time.

The incident, which occurred on the eve of October 21 assembly elections on Sunday, paints a grim picture of the state of the health infrastructure in rural Maharashtra notwithstanding claims of political parties to provide quality healthcare to people.

The shocking incident occurred around 6.30 am on October 20 in Hingoli district, around 590 kms from Mumbai, in the Marathwada region. The police official said Pooja was rushed to a primary health centre in Goregaon, her native place in the district, at 2 am on Sunday after she went into labour. On voting day on Monday, a family from the Malad East constituency refrained from exercising their franchise. The reason for their boycottthey did not want to play a role in electing a government which was unopposed.

According to a member of the family, they had enough reasons for not voting, like the recent heinous act of the government -- the midnight felling of trees at Aarey, rising unemployment, potholed roads, utter mismanagement of services, lack of basic amenities, etc.

"We have no faith in this government and hence we did not step out to vote. We did not even want to vote NOTA, as that too means we would have to vote. According to me, there is no need for elections, as for all practical purposes, there is only one party imposing rules on citizens. It's like a dictatorship, there is no opposition party. In such conditions, why is the government spending taxpayer money on this exercise," wondered a resident of Malad, anonymity.

Further, he said, "Day by day this country is becoming hell. If anyone raises their voice, questions development, then the BMC, police and other agencies are set on you, as if you have done something wrong."

Another youth said so far, he had been voting for the Congress but this time, opted for NOTA as it was not worth voting for the Congress as despite being such an old party, it could not prove itself as a strong opposition.

"People here do not have any idea of the importance of NOTA. Here people think NOTA is just a waste of their vote. But the power of NOTA should not be underestimated. In many countries, people have changed governments and the candidate just by pressing NOTA. In these countries, they value voters, unlike here. Politicians here think that by just making big promises and offering money, liquor and biryani,they can win, " said another resident of Malad, requesting anonymity. requesting