It is in the fitness of things that the Congress party is now on the springboard to support migrant labourers – a segment that can form into one of the largest vote banks for political parties. The party always enjoyed a reputation for vote bank politics, in the form of minorities via the advocacy for secularism and the Dalits and backwards in the name of socialism. This, even as the party at its core remained the most elitist, with a western-educated, blue-blooded family at its head for over seven decades since Independence.
As per the 2011 Census, the population of migrant labourers in the country numbers over 40 crore, mostly labourers with little financial clout. The poor, hard working lot among them deserve the nation’s sympathy. They are the ones who sweat themselves out to power the engines of growth, be it in industries or agriculture. Most of them have no land of their own, and live in labour camps or rented accommodations in chawls across cities or rural areas. This was the hour of crisis for them as they lived a hand-to-mouth existence and possibly had little savings. In the initial announcement of economic stimulus, the Modi government had no word for them. The Congress party was already up, demanding free travel facility to migrants wanting to return to their home states. The party offered to pay travel expenses for the millions returning home, obviously to prove a point that it cared for them more than the government did.
The government led by PM Modi was perhaps caught unawares and failed to grasp the power of this segment of the society in electoral sweepstakes. The Congress party jolted the government from its slumber. Now, the party is offering buses to take the migrants to their homes. It could be surmised that the support of this poor segment of the society will now be more with the Congress. It was the only party, apart from the leftist government of Kerala, which came out to help them. The BJP was nowhere to be seen in its support for the migrants, till at a late stage. Having been outwitted in a political game, the Government woke up and acted. The third tranche of stimulus measures offered crumbs to this neglected segment of the society. A sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been set apart for their feeding etc., for a couple of months. The BJP, known as a Hindutva party, is now known more as a party for the middle class and the rich; despite PM Modi’s rhetoric that he cares for the poor.