34. Trans women vote against harassment
In Varanasi, law and order has repeatedly failed to protect the rights of trans women or ensure their safety. In the General Elections 2024, their vote is for change
T
SANGUR, PUNJAB
|TUE, MAY 07, 2024
Rural Ballot 2024
The world’s largest democracy is voting in a new government; elections are being held between April 19-June 1, 2024. With our focus firmly on rural India, PARI travels to different constituencies to understand what drives votes in the countryside. Farmers, agricultural workers, forest dwellers, migrants and others living on the margins tell our reporters that they are desperate for basic necessities – running water and electricity in their homes and farms, and employment opportunities for their children. Then there are those voters who fear for their life and safety amidst rising communal tensions, fuelled by political agendas. Read our full coverage here
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33. Daily wage workers: future unknown
In Jharkhand, it’s the morning after the results of the General Elections were declared on June 4, 2024. But in Daltonganj’s labour market, workers say the scarcity of jobs is not going away
June 11, 2024 | Ashwini Kumar Shukla
32. Workers in Rohtak vote for change
More than a century ago, this tehsil in Haryana was witness to a milestone in India’s struggle for freedom. Today workers from the region share what General Elections 2024 means to them
June 9, 2024 | Amir Malik
31. Attari-Wagah porters: caught in the crosshairs
All voters want a powerful Member of Parliament who can take their issues to Delhi. Out-of-work porters at India’s highly sensitive border with Pakistan hope their vote in the General Elections 2024 will do just that
June 7, 2024 | Sanskriti Talwar
30. ‘These protests are like school for us’
For the elderly women of Kishangarh Sedha Singh Wala in Punjab’s Mansa district, the historic farm protests of 2020-2021 were transformative. The dissent served as an education, even shaping their choices at the polls for the General Elections 2024
June 5, 2024 | Arshdeep Arshi
29. Of polls, poems and photos
A reporter and a poet from West Bengal bring to us what they have observed from travelling across the state in the five years before General Elections 2024
June 1, 2024 | Joshua Bodhinetra and Smita Khator
28. In Varanasi district: MNREGA is absent
This constituency has elected Narendra Modi twice. But the lack of state-funded work under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has left voters impoverished and disillusione
June 1, 2024 | Akanksha Kumar
27. ‘Politicians come for votes…and then they leave’
Government schemes and jobs have eluded the predominantly tribal villages in Dumka, Jharkhand. In the run-up to the last phase of the General Elections 2024, there is palpable dissatisfaction
June 1, 2024 | Ashwini Kumar Shukla
26. Nangal’s women demand a drug-free village
In Punjab’s Moga district, heroin and other drugs are taking over the lives of young and older men, leaving the women to hunt for scarce jobs. It's a major poll issue here in General Elections 2024
May 31, 2024 | Sanskriti Talwar
25. ‘I once voted to build the country...now I am voting to save it’
Khwaja Moeenuddin, 92, recalls voting in India’s first elections; he also voted in General Elections 2024. A resident of Beed, Maharashtra, he speaks on the past, present and future of our secular democracy
May 30, 2024 | Parth M.N.
24. ‘I inhaled the dust even in my sleep’
Migrant workers from Sandeshkhali and Minakhan blocks of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal had gone to work in ramming mass units in other parts of the state. Within a few years, they returned, diagnosed with silicosis. The General Elections 2024, they say, will change nothing for them
May 29, 2024 | Ritayan Mukherjee
23. ‘Why do we vote?’
A poet's take on the Lok Sabha elections in our democracy that shows us how they can be about everything but the rights of ordinary people
May 28, 2024 | Moumita Alam
22. Jalgaon’s women star in Krishnaji's bharit
This special dish (bharit) is made with brinjals and is a local delicacy in this city in Maharashtra. The 14 women who cook upto 500 kilograms of it on some days, are taking centrestage during campaigning for General Elections 2024
May 28, 2024 | Kavitha Iyer
21. As voting nears, it’s payback time in Punjab
In 2020, the nation watched rivetted as protesting farmers were denied entry into Delhi with the use of brute force. In Punjab’s poll campaigns today, farmers are repaying that debt – non-violently
May 26, 2024 | Vishav Bharti
![‘They [BJP] do not have the right…’](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fproduction.ruralindiaonline.org%2Fuploads%2F01_IMG_2898_AA_They_BJP_do_not_have_the_right_6da4ff323c.jpg&w=1080&q=75)
20. ‘They [BJP] do not have the right…’
Across Punjab, people are saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no right to ask for votes in the General Elections 2024 after their treatment of farmers and workers. This was the message at the Kisan-Mazdoor Mahapanchayat held in Ludhiana this week
May 25, 2024 | Arshdeep Arshi
19. Braille and the ballot
Despite state regulations that make provisions for people with disability to vote, some like Bablu Kaibarta are unsure about taking part in the electoral processes in the General Elections 2024
May 24, 2024 | Sarbajaya Bhattacharya
18. Young farmers: educated, unemployed and unmarried
In Yavatmal, and across most of rural Maharashtra, there is a 'marriage' crisis: men are unable to find brides; young women are passing over impoverished farmers for government employees. This is a direct fallout of shrinking agricultural incomes. In the run-up to the General Elections 2024, poor earnings from farming and bleak marriage prospects are top-of-mind
May 22, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
17. Knowing your onions in Murshidabad
Mal Pahariya Adivasi women working in the onion fields of West Bengal's Murshidabad district explain their priorities – work, food, then vote – to PARI in the run up to the General Elections 2024
May 21, 2024 | Smita Khator
16. Freedom fighter Bhabani Mahato votes in 2024
The brave and unassuming Bhabani Mahato, farmed, cooked and fed her family and other revolutionaries through decades of India's historic struggle for Independence. Now nearly 106 years of age, she carries on the fight...casting her vote in the General Elections 2024
May 20, 2024 | Partha Sarathi Mahato
15. Damu Nagar will be voting for democracy
For the residents of Damu Nagar slum in the Mumbai North parliamentary constituency, the General Elections 2024 is about voting to protect the rights of the marginalised
May 19, 2024 | Jyoti Shinoli
14. ‘If democracy is lost, all marginalised communities lose’
As members of the queer community went out to canvas during the run-up to General Elections 2024, the ruling party supporters heckled and threatened them and the journalist covering the event
May 16, 2024 | Sweta Daga
13. ‘Doubtful voters’: neither here nor there
The category of Doubtful-Voters (D-Voters) is unique to Assam where many Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims are often denied voting rights. Marjina Khatun, who has lived in Assam her whole life, once again could not cast her vote in the General Elections 2024
May 15, 2024 | Mahibul Hoque
12. The village no politician visits
Nestled amidst the stony slopes of the Satpuras lies Ambapani, a hamlet where the essence of democracy remains elusive — residents can exercise their vote in the General Elections 2024, but they have neither roads, nor electricity or healthcare facilities
May 11, 2024 | Kavitha Iyer
11. ‘What have you done for our village?’
Government schemes like MNREGA and free LPG cylinders, roads and handpumps have bypassed the largely Dalit residents of Checharia village here in Palamu district of Jharkhand. Angry and fed-up with their plight, they say the General Elections 2024 is a time for reckoning
May 10, 2024 | Ashwini Kumar Shukla
10. ‘Ask us what we need and want’
In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, iron-ore mines in forested areas have destroyed the habitats and culture of the tribal population. For years, this region has also witnessed a strife between the state security forces and CPI (Maoists). This year, about 1,450 gram sabhas in the tribal belt lent conditional support to the Congress candidate in the General Elections 2024. Here’s why…
May 8, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
9. At Raipur's brick kilns: migrant workers may miss voting
From Madhya Pradesh but working in Chhattisgarh, these labourers are unaware of polling dates in their home constituencies. It's unlikely they will get to cast their vote in the General Elections 2024
May 7, 2024 | Purusottam Thakur
8. Malgaon stands up to polarisation
Hindu mobs are attacking shrines at which people of many faiths have worshipped for centuries. A determined village shows how syncretic ways of living can still be revived
April 28, 2024 | Parth M.N.
7. A neglected village boycotts the polls
The village of Khadimal in Maharashtra’s Amravati district has never had running water or electricity. Villagers say politicians only make empty promises every five years, then disappear. That is why they have collectively decided to abstain from voting in the General Elections of 2024
April 26, 2024 | Swara Garge and Prakhar Dobhal
6. 'Inflation was a problem; now we have elephants'
This summer, the residents of Palasgaon, an Adivasi village in Maharashtra, are staying indoors, forgoing their forest-based livelihoods due to an unforeseen threat. More worried about their life, the villagers are not excited about the General Elections 2024
April 25, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
5. In Bhandara: a series of strange and unfortunate events
Young people in this Maharashtra district are forced to migrate as there is no work for them in their villages. The General Elections 2024 are the last thing on their minds
April 23, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
4. Gondia's poor still bank on 3Ms: mahua, MNREGA and migration
India's poorest homes continue to rely on minor forest produce like mahua and tendu leaves, along with the assured Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) programme. As they ready for voting tomorrow (April 19) in the General Elections 2024, Adivasi villagers here in Arattondi village say their lives have only become harder in the last 10 years...
April 18, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
3. In Palamu: ‘Who cares about the farmer?’
Small and marginal farmers in this district of Jharkhand are reeling under debt, brought on by successive droughts. They say their vote in the General Elections 2024 is for irrigation
April 17, 2024 | Ashwini Kumar Shukla
2. Bhandara’s youth: jobs not ballot is top of mind
In the first phase of India’s General Elections 2024, the parliamentary constituency of Bhandara-Gondia will vote on April 19. Unemployment and anxiety are simmering here in Shivaji Stadium, a public space where rural youth are actively training for state jobs they are desperate to secure – that comes first; poll promises are a distant second. Today's piece kicks off PARI series – Rural Ballot 2024
April 12, 2024 | Jaideep Hardikar
1. In Pusesavali: doctored images, destroyed lives
In Maharashtra, majoritarian Hindutva mobs are whipping up the communal cauldron. Photoshopped images, doctored videos and rumours are enough to set them off, resulting in the loss of Muslim lives and property
March 27, 2024 | Parth M.N.
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