As citizens across India and political parties keenly analyse the voter turnout and exit poll numbers for the ongoing state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, a major electoral protest is unfolding on ground in the southern state.
According to a PTI report, residents of the twin villages of Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri in the Ettayapuram region have sworn to not participate in the ongoing TN assembly elections until their “pathway dispute” is resolved.
Impact of protest on elections : 5 votes out of 983
The villages of Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri come under the Vilathikulam constituency in Tamil Nadu.
By mid-day on Thursday, officials at the Panchayat Union Primary School, which serves these twin villages along with Sothunaickanpatti and Ammampadam told PTI reporters that a mere five votes had been cast out of 983 registered electors.
As we begin to dive into the pathway dispute that promoted the boycott, it becomes important to note that the latest electoral boycott is not a fresh development but the culmination of a ten-year-long struggle for a road that connects the villagers to their own livelihoods.
What’s the pathway dispute about?
As per a PTI report, the dispute centers on a narrow pathway that cuts through a Sri Lankan Tamil rehabilitation camp (refugee camp) located in the region. For the farmers of Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri, this path is the only viable route to reach their agricultural lands.
Over the years, the expansion of the camp and alleged encroachments by its inmates have restricted the movement of farm equipment and the transport of harvested produce as more regions around the area get incorporated into the camp to support the families inside.
The residents of the camp are Sri Lankan Tamils who fled the civil war decades ago. They live under the jurisdiction of the Rehabilitation Department. Because the camp is government-regulated land, the local Panchayat and the villagers cannot simply “build” a road through it without state-level clearance.
The restriction of farm equipment on the road has impacted villagers working as farmers in the rain dependent agricultural belt of Ettayapuram. The tensions between the two communities reportedly reached a breaking point on April 18, when a stone-pelting clash left the community scarred and the path further obstructed.
Frustrated after reaching no public resolution for the issue, a wave of hunger strikes, and sieges at the Tehsildar’s office, the villagers have decided to boycott the 2026 Assembly election, until “a solution is found”.
Besides Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri, the polling station also caters to voters of Sothunaickanpatti and Ammampadam, the officials said. Polling for election to 234 Assembly seats was underway across Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
