The villagers of Margherita subdivision on Tuesday said there was sunya parivartan (zero change) in their areas and resolved to boycott the 17th Lok Sabha elections after the BJP failed to solve their problems in Tinsukia district of Upper Assam.

“Around 1,500 voters of the areas will not vote for any political party this time because of the dilapidated state of several link roads here. The sufferings of the students and villagers were not alleviated after the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2016 Assembly elections,” said Aruna Gogoi Baruah, a resident of No. 2 Tokopathar under Inangthem gaon panchayat in Margherita constituency.

Pointing to a dilapidated road, she asked, “Aitue aache din ne ki? (Is this achchhe din?)”

Tokopathar is one of the remote villages in Pengeri at Brahmajan gaon panchayat.

Several main roads in villages of the Cremlong area have been submerged in almost knee-deep water, making the roads quite unusable.

Jan Moni Barua, a student told The Telegraph, “Our teachers ask us to come to school on time and dressed tidily but because of the waterlogged road, we fail to do so. During the monsoon, walking on this road is a punishment for us.”

Residents claimed that a pregnant woman died on the way to hospital on this road.

“If the roads are not built and the areas are not brought within the priority list for development, the people will boycott the Assembly elections also,” a resident said.

Moreover, floods and erosions continue to plague residents of Pengeri because of the Dihing or Buridihing, a tributary of the Brahmaputra. It affects Pengeri, Mrigang Pathar, Inangthem, Nagapathar, Ambikapur, Brahmajan, Toko-pathar and Khatongpani villages.