With the first phase of voting kicking off in various parts of the country, many construction workers, street vendors, drivers and other immigrant workers have travelled back to their hometowns.
While the effect has not yet been felt much in other sectors, the construction sector, where many workers are from Tamil Nadu, has been affected this weekend. From daily wage workers to engineers, many of them have travelled to Tamil Nadu for voting, it was reported at construction sites.
Dhanush, a site manager in Shanthinagar said: “While most of our construction labourers are from North India, around 10 people, including the engineers and other supervisors have returned home to Tamil Nadu in order to vote.”
Shanmukappa, a site supervisor at a PG construction site said, “All the labourers from Tamil Nadu have returned home in order to vote. They will be back on Saturday to collect their weekly pay. However, with about 13 employees missing, the work around the site has slowed down as they work under different divisions.”
Along with travelling to other States, travelling within Karnataka for voting is also expected to affect small trade activities and construction in Bengaluru.
S. Babu, president of Bengaluru Street Vendors Association, said: “In our market alone, many street vendors have travelled to vote in Tamil Nadu. In Vijayanagar, there are around 60 vendors from Mandya. They will travel to vote in a few days and thus miss out on their business.”
Various trade unions are actively encouraging their members to cast their vote.
K. Mahantesh, secretary of State unit of Centre of Indian Trade Unions, said: “A large number of auto drivers, construction workers, street vendors, lorry drivers, and other daily wage workers are expected to travel to vote. Hopefully, they might register to vote from Karnataka in the future.”
