Navi Mumbai villagers boycott elections over property cards

Residents of around 27 villages in Airoli and Belapur Assembly constituencies boycotted the LokSabha elections on Monday. AgriKoli Youth Foundation, which was formed by the villagers, had made an appeal to people in this regard, as a mark of protest against the government for not fulfilling their demand of providing property cards. In 1970s, when the CIDCO built Navi Mumbai, they took away land of the villagers. Now these people do not have property with a clear title. Though they have the possession, the title holders are the CIDCO. Most of the houses are old and they need to be reconstructed, and for that, there has to be a clear title. There are close to 1.60 lakh voters in these villages, which include the original villagers and those who had come here years ago and have settled. Around 50% villagers have supported the boycott. The villagers feel that even as the boycott might not affect the LokSabha elections much, it will matter for the Assembly election. Till 6 p.m. on Monday, there was a voter turnout of 48% in the Belapur and Airoli Assembly constituencies, against 51% in 2014.