A badly potholed Chikkamagaluru road connecting Meluru, Honnagundi and several hamlets has prompted villagers to threaten an election boycott unless repair work begins, turning a long-running infrastructure grievance into a wider public issue in the district’s coffee-growing belt.
A banner put up near the entrance to a village in Attikodige gram panchayat carries the message “Boycott elections—repair the road, ask for votes”. According to villagers cited by the Times of India, the banner was installed overnight at a village junction and photographs of it circulated through WhatsApp groups across the taluk the following morning.
Residents said the damaged stretch linking their settlements to the main road has made routine travel difficult. Children reportedly have to walk through slush to reach school, while pregnant women have been carried on makeshift stretchers when transport becomes difficult. Villagers also described two-wheeler travel on the road as hazardous because of the potholes and poor surface conditions.
The affected communities include Meluru, Honnagundi and around half a dozen nearby hamlets. Farmers from Kottigehalli, Attikodige and surrounding villages have also extended support to the protest, according to the report, broadening the issue beyond one settlement.
Villagers said they had submitted memorandums, photographs and repeated requests to authorities ranging from the gram panchayat to the local MLA, but claimed that the road had not improved. One farmer from Meluru, who was involved in putting up the banner, said residents were not opposed to voting but questioned the value of democratic participation when they could not secure a motorable road after decades of independence.
Officials contacted by the Times of India said a proposal for the road’s development had been sent and that work would be taken up under the next grant. The assurance has not satisfied residents, who said they had heard similar commitments before earlier elections. Shivanna, a villager from Honnagundi, said the community wanted machinery at the site rather than promises on paper.
The dispute highlights how the condition of a relatively short rural road can affect access to education, emergency healthcare, farming activity and public services. For the residents of these Chikkamagaluru hamlets, the next grant and the start of physical repair work will determine whether the election boycott warning is withdrawn.
