Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said, “We have to be on our toes.” (Source: Google maps) Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said, “We have to be on our toes.” (Source: Google maps)FOUR YEARS after Maoists fielded candidates and won panchayat polls in the rebel-hit districts of Koraput and Malkangiri of Odisha, they have called for a boycott of the elections scheduled for February. In posters distributed in remote villages of the districts, the Malkangiri-Visakha-Koraput divisional committee of CPI(Maoist) said people should boycott the polls since many public issues have not been addressed. Signed by Venu, secretary of the divisional committee, the poster states: “…problems such as land, health, drinking water, irrigation have been given a short shrift. Instead of solving basic issues such as inflation, corruption, unemployment, parties are using them for their own benefits.” About its own candidates, the party said, “They have become corrupt and have left for cities after being rejected in praja (people’s) courts.”Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said, “We have to be on our toes.”

Source: Indian Express October 01, 2016 21:56 UTC