INDORE: If all goes well, a speech and hearing- impaired man will become a sarpanch of a village some 30 kms from Indore. His village, Dansari, has been reserved for scheduled tribe in the panchayat elections scheduled later.

Lalu, 27, is likely to be elected unopposed as he is the only one from ST living in the village. He is also the lose ST voter, said villagers.

Lalu owns one acre land in Dansari village in Hatod tehsil, is the only ST resident and voter in the newly-constituted panchayat. Villagers of Dansari, with a population of about 1,000, claimed Lalu has full support of villagers and will win the election unopposed.

SalagramSonrega, 60, a farmer and landlord of Lalu said, “We have already started celebration. Lalu will win the election unopposed as he is the only ST member and candidate. We will support him.”

Lalu, moved to Dansari as a young kid about 20 years ago with his parents. He has been staying with the Sonrega family for years after the demise of his parents.

Indore-based social activist Gyanendra Purohit working for deaf and differently-abled people, interacted with Lalu in sign language at his village.

According to Purohit, “Lalu says that he has been a voter for years and very well know the local issues in the village. He will work in close association of villagers to improve the condition of the village.” Officials meanwhile refused to comment that Lalu is the only ST resident of Dansari village panchayat as voter list do not categorise voters on the basis of caste.