Parandur boycott: Out of 1,479 voters, only 9 turn out to cast vote till noon

CHENNAI: The villagers of Parandur, who opposed to the construction of the new greenfield airport, boycotted the parliamentary elections and protested.

The government officials who went to the villagers' homes to ask them to cast their votes were gheraoed by the villagers.

The villagers had announced earlier that they would boycott the elections if their demands were not met.

Few days back Kanchipuram district collector came to the village and held talks with the villagers earlier, but they refused to back down.

On Friday the villagers surrounded the Sriperumbudur tahsildar, Sundaramurthy, and protested, saying, "We will not give up our demands. You are trying to force us to vote, but we will not let you do so."

The villagers also blocked the officials from entering their homes and persuaded the villagers to cast their votes.

The officials tried to persuade the villagers to vote, but they refused. The villagers then chased the officials out of their area, causing a commotion in the Parandur area.

The villagers were protesting against the construction of the new green airport, which they said would affect their agricultural lands and water sources.

They had also announced that they would boycott the elections if their demands were not met.

The officials tried to persuade them to vote, but they refused, leading to a standoff.

In the end, out of the total 1479 only 9 votes were cast in the two polling stations in the village till noon, and all of them were from government servants.

The villagers had successfully boycotted the elections, sources said.