WARANGAL: For R Pichaiah, a daily wage labourer in Warangal, getting work was a matter of chance. He, like scores of other labourers, would stand under a scorching sun at an ‘adda’ waiting for a contractor who would throw some work their way. Sometimes they would get money early, sometimes note. But, thanks to election season, Pichaiah is having the time of his life now. He gets guaranteed breakfast, lunch, and Rs 500 in cash for campaigning for a political leader. The cherry on top is a ‘quarter bottle of liquor he gets in the evening after a hard day’s work.
Hundreds of daily-wage labourers like Pichaiah admittedly love election season. As soon as the political atmosphere in the State heats up, aides of political leaders scope the aforementioned addas and scoop up these labourers to campaign for them. “It’s easy work for us. We just have to shout slogans for a particular candidates. We get free food and liquor to drink till the last day of the campaign. I really enjoy election season,” says a daily-wager flashing an ear-to-ear grin. He adds that they are in high demand and are booked by various parties till polling date. Also, women dancers and singers, who add colour and artistic touch to public meetings to attract voters, are in even more demand. They are paid much higher than the daily labourers.
Interestingly, party loyalty is not really a thing for them - they go where where the money is. “We are generally booked by one party leader for a long period of time, but we have no problem campaigning for someone who offers us more money. Money matters,” explain G Sataiah, a labourer. So don’t be surprised if you see the same faces in Congress and TRS public meetings.
With labourers busy with ‘poll duties’, contractors are finding it difficult to get enough people to carry on construction work. “After poll campaign began in the city, we are finding it difficult to find labourers. I cannot offer them free liquor or food, so they prefer working for political leaders instead,” says V Rajender, a contractor who normally operates from an adda near Public Gardens in the city.
It is learnt that a labourer can earn as much as Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month during election season. With grand alliance leaders likely to begin campaigning soon, they expect to earn much more in the coming days.