http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=471516
POLL-DALITS Dalit villagers cast votes for first time since independence BALLIA, MAY 8 (PTI) Sounds strange but it's true. About 50 dalit families of a village in Uttar Pradesh today exercised their franchise for the first time since independence. About 100 of the 248 dalits voters of Naoka Gaon under Reoti police circle, about 35 km from here, went to cast their votes. The rest were out of station, sources said. According to District Magistrate Ranjan Kumar, the dalits were never allowed by dominating Rajputs to vote during previous elections for the Dwaba assembly constituency. They also could not also vote in the recently-held elections to the village panchayat, Kumar said. The district administration had recently raided a fair price shop owner's house and recovered over 150 ration cards issued to the dalits. The Rajputs used to forcible deposit these ration cards so that the dalits could not cast their votes, police said. This time, however, the administration had taken steps to ensure the dalits were not deprived of their right and arrested 12 members of the Thakur community including village pradhan Uma Shankar Singh as a precautionary measure.
