The voters of Mahadeva area in Mahadeva Rural Municipality, Saptari, boycotted Thursday’s elections.

Mahadeva is the hometown of CK Raut, coordinator of the “Independent Madhes” campaign. 

According to Election Officer Dhaneshwor Sah at the local election station, there were 960 eligible voters in Mahadeva-2, but none showed up on the polling day.

Some villagers said they boycotted the elections to show their support to Raut.

Chief District Officer Bhagirath Pandey said there was a zero turnout even though the election office had urged the locals to exercise their franchise.

The voters are resentful that no leaders have made any serious effort to develop their area, he added.

CDO Pandey did not mention Raut as the reason behind Mahadeva locals boycotting the elections.

He further claimed that Mahadeva villagers were also unhappy with the political parties for ignoring them during the August flood.

This is the second time an entire village in Saptari has boycotted an election.

The voters of Trikol Village, the home of underground political outfit leader Jaya Krishna Goit, had boycotted the Constituent Assembly elections in 2008.

Leader arrested

Meanwhile, Raut was arrested by police on Thursday from Janakpur on charge of carrying out anti-election activities. The “independent Madhes” campaigner was held from apartment in Machhabazaar of Janakpur Sub-metropolis-4, said Superintendent of Police Chakra Bahadur Singh.

Raut had been reportedly persuading voters to boycott the elections of federal parliament and provincial assemblies. Police also seized some documents and a laptop from Raut’s possession.