India, May 3 -- Amrit Birhore, 64, a resident of Sakari village in Chhattisgarh's Surguja, does not know why and whom to vote for. "...I have never seen any politician visiting our village or addressing our problems," he said as he returned from a jungle after collecting a form of Cuddapah Almond.

Sushila Birhore, 60, echoed Amrit Birhore. She said they are forced to walk a kilometre to fetch drinking water. "We do not even have solar panels for electricity," she said on a hot April afternoon when most residents were busy preparing for sowing summer crops.

Sakari is one of the seven villages of the particularly vulnerable tribal group Birhore. It is part of the Surguja Lok Sabha seat, which has been associated with the erstwhile royal f...