VOILPALLY: A large notice board welcomes visitors and passersby near Voilpally village that falls along a dusty, rocky unfinished road between Marrigudem and Choutuppal in Munugode constituency.
Erected recently amidst the hustle and bustle of political parties swarming the constituency as they drum up support for their candidates for the November 3 by-election in Munugode, the board carries a simple appeal directed at “representatives of political parties, and public representatives.”
“We have been asking for a long time for a road to the Rachkonda Saralamaisamma temple, and no one has done anything. So, we set up this board,” said Suresh, a youth from the village.
Despite the dust kicked up by the increased ‘political’ traffic on the unfinished road, Suresh was sitting on a cement bench by its side. “They started the work and then stopped all of a sudden,” he said, pointing to the ‘metal’ – crushed granite gravel – that forms the road now.
Meanwhile, another man joins in, bringing to a stop the motorcycle he was riding. His name, he said, is Banda Lingaswamy, a daily wage earner. And he enthusiastically jumped into the narrative about the road. “It was really bad until recently and Rajgopal Reddy (Komatireddy) sent some 150 tipper loads of earth to fill up the potholes and level it. This was just after he resigned from Congress and as the MLA,” Lingaswamy said.
He continued: “Soon after, officials came for an inspection and road works machinery was brought and they started work by laying the metal. But, one evening the machinery was there, and the next morning it was gone.”
The government, he said, did not want Rajgopal Reddy to get credit for the roadwork because he started saying that his resignation is forcing the government to take up development programmes in Munugode. “So this is the road we have now,” Lingaswamy said.
