Belagavi: Koganolli villagers in Chikkodi taluk have threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha elections and not allow political leaders in the village to campaign as their demand for a primary health centre ( PHC ) in village has net been met.The villagers have stated that they would boycott the polls unless elected representatives and officials do not give an assurance in writing that their demand would be met by April 5.More than 50 villagers had protested for over a month demanding the PHC in January. On February 13, they gave memorandums to the local MP, MLA, MLC, tahsildar, gram panchayat PDO and president. When they did not get a positive response, the villagers carried out a one-day hunger strike on March 6. Neither politicians nor officials took them seriously. So, the annoyed villagers have given the ultimatum of boycotting the elections.Koganolli is the last village of the district located on the Karnataka- Maharashtra border, attached to Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-4. Dattawadi and Hanabarawadi are the two other villages that come under Koganolli GP. The village has a population of around 20,000.Since there are no proper health services in and around the village, people here are forced to go to Nippani, 17km from village or Kagal or Kolhapur in Maharashtra. A PHC will also benefit the people of surrounding Sulagaon, Mattiwade, Hanabarawadi, Dattawadi, Hanchinal and Shankarwadi village.Krishnat Khot, one of the 50 villagers who have been protesting for over two months, told TOI that their movement has got the support of all villagers, adding that the protest will continue until justice is met.According to PDO Sadashiv Kamble, all 32 members of the gram panchayat have unanimously passed a resolution seeking a PHC in the gram panchayat.

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