http://www.indianexpress.com/story/323581.html
Dalits finally 'dare' in this reserved seat Kautilya Singh Posted online: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 2249 hrs IST Malasa, June 16 For the first time in three years, two Dalits on Monday finally mustered the courage to contest for the post of gram pradhan from the reserved seat of Malasa in Kanpur Dehat. On May 20, this newspaper had highlighted the fact that despite being ruled by a party that espouses the cause of the Dalits, this Uttar Pradesh village was too scared to choose a Dalit gram pradhan. Previously, elections were held in August 2005 and February 2006, but on both the occasions under immense pressure from the dominant Thakurs, none of the Dalits filed nominations. On Monday, with the Kanpur Dehat district and police officials waking up to address the issue, the entire village was transformed into a police fortress and a section of PAC was posted at the Block Development Office office when nomination papers were filed. The entire force of Bhognipur and Moosanagar police stations were deployed in the village. One circle officer and two station officers were also on duty in the village. To boost the moral of the Dalits, a Bahujan Samaj Party team, led by district president Ram Babu Gautam, was present in the Block Development Office till the nomination process was over. However, it wasn't all smooth for the Dalits. The Block Development Office was surrounded by over 500 Thakurs as long as the nomination process continued. The Dalits coming to the Block Development Office were threatened and abused. That, however, was no deterrent for Chandrika Prasad and Lallai. Both of them filed their respective set of nomination papers for gram pradhan polls. Chandrika Prasad, a postgraduate, had previously made an attempt to file nomination in August 2005 elections, but threats by Thakurs compelled him to back out. After assurance from the cops and the district authorities, he filed his nomination on Monday. "This time, the situation is different. I have the support of the district and police authorities who are ensuring a fair polls," he told The Indian Express. Equally confident of victory was Lallai. "For the first time in past three years, any Dalit has dared to challenge the Thakurs' supremacy," he said. The village has a population of 3,033, out of which 1,400 are voters and of these 1,250 are Thakurs and a mere 134 are Dalits. District Magistrate O P N Singh said: "It was heartening to see the Dalits filing their nominations. We will ensure peaceful polls on June 28."
