The tri-state junction Kuppam Assembly constituency, a narrow strip at the tail-end Chittoor district, is witnessing hectic activity in a number of villages bordering Tamil Nadu.
Hundreds of people, mostly agriculture workers, rush to neighbouring Krishnagiri and Vellore districts to earn a living, thanks to the demand for campaigners for the Assembly elections in that State.
The mandals of Gudupalle, Kuppam and Ramakuppam share lengthy borders with Tamil Nadu. Poverty is rampant in most border villages, with a substantial population belonging to the Backward Classes. Round the year, the people crisscross the two States in search of a livelihood, depending on agriculture work. The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections this year is a bonanza for about 7,000 people, that too with drought conditions set to slowly return to Kuppam, followed by dampening summer heat and not much work in the fields.
Interestingly, a majority of them have relatives in villages of Vellore and Krishnagiri districts. Apart from using share-autos for commuting distances over three km, several of them find it convenient to just walk for five or 10 minutes to reach their destinations on the other side of the border.
During the last one week, several villagers have been leaving their houses in the early hours to reach the nearest locations in Vaniyambadi and Krishnagiri constituencies. Carrying party flags and distributing pamphlets and raising slogans there during door-to-door campaign, they would return home by sundown. The middlemen who collect the people from Kuppam villages pay Rs. 500 each to the campaigner, in addition to biryani packets and liquor. The women, in turn, get extra amount selling the liquor bottles at cheaper rates to their own colleagues in the campaign. A striking feature is that all the people of these villages are Tamil-speaking, and cherish strong affinity with villages in Tami Nadu, having family bonds since decades. Some families stay at their relatives’ houses, instead of travelling daily.
Some of the hamlets in Kuppam contributing to the campaigning in Tamilnadu elections are: Arimanupenta in Ramakuppam mandal; Gundlamadugu, Motlachenu, Mallanur, Nadumuru, Peddavanka, Nayanur, Brahmadevara Chenlu, Devarajapuram and Adavibooduguru in Kuppam mandal; and O.N. Kottur in Gudupalle mandal.
Interestingly, several people of these villages, apart from being on the electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh, are also voters in Vaniyambadi, Bargur, Thalli, Uthangarai, Veppanahalli, Krishnagiri and Hosur in Krishnagiri district; and Vellore, K.V. Kuppam, Ambur, Anaikattu, Vaniyambadi, Gudiyattam in Vellore district.
The politics and social life of Tamil Nadu has come to influence the border villages in many ways. For instance, the ration rice from Tamil Nadu finds its way into all households all round the year, in addition to Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s gesture of fan and laptop.
Dhanaraj, a middleman from Krishnagiri, who musters campaigners from Kuppam, says: “There is nothing wrong in campaigning in Tamil Nadu. The borders are only physical, and our people are Tamils and spread in both States. In this summer, they can earn something for their families without hard work.”
Many of them go to Krishnagiri and Vellore to take part in campaigning
