There will not be even a single voter from the Scheduled Tribes in Ward 14 of Kulathupuzha grama panchayat to elect the sole Scheduled Tribe representative in the entire Kollam district in the November 2 elections to the local bodies.
Out of 1,598 representatives to be elected from the district, the only representation for the Scheduled Tribes is Ward 14 of the Kulathupuzha panchayat.
No ST voters
The ward has 1,507 voters but no one from the Scheduled Tribes. This is despite the fact that the 20-member panchayat has more than 700 voters from the Scheduled Tribes. It is through a draw of lots that the ward got reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
The district has about 6,000 Scheduled Tribe voters and Kulathupuzha grama panchayat has the highest. Ward 14 is the biggest ward in the panchayat. All three candidates in the fray are voters from other wards. In all earlier elections, such a situation has never happened in Kulathupuzha.
The Left Democratic Front candidate is 24-year-old B.S. Vishnu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). A graduate from the Kanikaran community, he was working on a temporary basis at the district tribal extension office but resigned the job to contest the polls. United Democratic Front candidate Thankappan Kani (Congress) is a social worker.
Though Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Biju is in the fray, voters say that he is not active on the campaign front. No posters of his are seen in the ward and he could not be contacted.
Mr. Vishnu and Mr. Thankappan said that they were not in any way upset that there are no Scheduled Tribe voters in the ward. If elected, they will serve the ward and the tribespeople of the panchayat.
