The way old bicycles are lined up in the narrow lanes of Ashapuri, one of the biggest residential colonies for migrant workers in Surat city, one could mistake it for a junkyard.
Workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal have made this colony and the adjoining ones in the Pandesara industrial area a hub for migrants.
Over 10 lakh workers in textile mills and embroidery, diamond polishing, textile dyeing and printing units have made Surat a migrants’ city.
Strong group
A substantial number of them are voters.
The Choryasi Assembly constituency, which includes this area, had 3.6 lakh registered voters in the previous election, and a major chunk of them are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
“These elections are about fighting for self-respect. This time, neither the BJP nor the Congress has given ticket to anyone from North India. The BJP has never given any ticket, but Congress used to give. This time, even they have not done so,” says Ajay Chaudhury, who is contesting as an Independent candidate from Choryasi.
He says a majority of the North Indian voters have been loyal BJP voters for over a decade, but have got little in return.
“They don’t even have basic facilities such as access to affordable healthcare or a Provident Fund number. Government schemes don’t quite reach them,” says Mr. Chaudhury, who cut his ties with the BJP this election after being denied ticket.
Regular harassment
Guddi Maurya, a 40-year-old street food vendor, who has been living in Surat for two decades with her husband and four children, says it is time for change.
“If the poor benefits from a Congress government, then they should be in power,” she says.
Her main grouse is that the officials of the local municipality take her push cart away every two weeks. “They charge ₹1,000 to release my cart and many times they don’t even do that. How do I get so much money,” asks the street vendor, who is from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.
A little distance away is Sushanta Dakua, who runs a barber shop. Ask him if the Congress campaign against demonetisation a year ago finds resonance in these parts. Did people become jobless?
“I can speak for myself. We did face problems regarding small change but didn’t face much problem,” says the hairdresser who came from Ganjam in Odisha in 2006.
His customers now join in the discussion. They say job losses happened, but many have now been re-employed.
Law and order
Their main concerns, though, are about improving the existing infrastructure such as having a proper waste disposal system and lighting system and road repairs.
But Sanjay Singh, an autorickshaw driver who came from Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh in 1995, argues that “law and order is the most important aspect”.
“After all, you can earn a livelihood only if you are safe and secure. And that only a BJP government can ensure,” Mr. Singh offers an argument that seems to be the template of BJP’s campaign all across Gujarat.
So who does he think will win this election? “The BJP will win. Modi saheb hasn’t even started campaigning, and he is like a magician when it comes to campaigning,” he says with a broad smile on his face.
