Migrant labourers to play crucial role

The number of voters who are believed to have migrated to other places could be well over 15,000. These votes could play crucial role in deciding the fate of candidates contesting in the byelection

Narayankhed: Narayankhed byelection is fast approaching and a determining factor for winning the elections is to identify, locate and bring back thousands of voters mostly STs from Lambada community who had migrated to other places in search of livelihood.

The byelection has come at a time when sugarcane cutting and crushing season has begun. Every year thousands of farmers and landless labourers leave Narayankhed along with their families before the end of the year to Zaheerabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Badalkot (Maharashtra), Halikhed (Karnataka) and other places where the sugarcane harvest begins. They work in the sugarcane fields, harvesting sugarcane.

This goes on till March, until the entire sugarcane is harvested. The number of voters who are believed to have migrated to other places could be well over 15,000. These votes could play crucial role in deciding the fate of candidates contesting for the byelection.

There are 1, 88,857 voters in the constituency. In a bid to get these voters to come back to the constituency to vote, political parties have been going out of the way and trying to identify where the people from a hamlet or a village could have migrated. They are taking the help of sarpanchs and other local political leaders to do this job.

These local party leaders would get in contact with the migrant labourers, arrange vehicles to bring them back to Narayankhed on the polling day (February 13). After the election, they would again be transported back to their respective work locations, how far it may be. To lure the migrant labourers to come back and vote for their party, political parties are offering anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per each voter, as they would lose their pay from sugarcane harvesting for a day or two.

There is also an annual religious festive event known as Pandalipur Jatara, which would be held in Pandalipur, Maharashtra in February. People from every village in Narayankhed would be going to the festival. Many go walking from Narayankhed and there are also special buses from Narayankhed to ferry devotees. The devotees from Narayankhed could run into thousands.

However, some people say that only after the byelection devotees would be leaving. Whether it is migration for livelihood or a religious trip, political parties are trying their best to ensure voters do take part in voting on the crucial day,

because in the past, candidates have lost elections with a margin of votes ranging from 5,000 to 20,000. Voting percentage in 2014 general elections for Narayankhed constituency was 77 per cent and the party representatives know that each and every vote matters.