Growing tribe of migrant voters find voice in local body polls

The upcoming civic polls are special for Rajendra Naik, a native of Kandhamal in Odisha who works in a plywood company; as he will cast his first vote in Ward 5 of Vazhakkulam panchayat near Perumbavoor, where he will settle with his family, including his wife, a Malayali, and two daughters.

He had been a voter in Kummil panchayat in Kollam district, where his wife Rajani also hails from, since 2014, but was transferred to the electoral rolls in Vazhakkulam after panchayat officials helped him find a plot of land and build a house there. The 41-year-old man had never been listed on the electoral rolls of his hometown in Kandhamal as he migrated to Kerala as part of a group of 15 job aspirants in 2001 when he was still a minor.

Mr. Rajendra is part of the slowly growing tribe of migrant voters who have chosen to settle in Kerala and register as voters here.

Kanak Mondal, 38, a domestic servant originally from Odisha’s Balasore district, has voted in many elections since migrating here in 2006.

She has since bought land not far from the Vyttila Mobility Centre, where the Maradu municipality helped her build a house, and now lives with her husband, gardener Abhijit Mondal, and their two sons.

He currently serves as a voter in the municipality’s 3rd Ward. Political party workers visited his home many times and gave him his voter ballot. Her perspective on voting is simple: “Political parties don’t matter. I will vote for the candidate who helps us and who I think is a good person,” Ms. Kanak said.

C. Ponraj, 52, came here as a two-year-old child when his parents migrated here from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Ponraj is currently a voter in Vathuruthy division of Kochi Corporation, a migrant hub comprising predominantly Tamil workers. He served as a link worker for migrant workers under the National Health Mission and as a block level officer at booth 139 in the division; has almost completed this challenging task.

“After Special Intensive Revision [SIR] Immigrants who settled here among the voter registers are confused about whether their names will be kept in the voter registers here or whether they will be written on the voter list in their country. While many retained their names here, those who continued to own property in their hometowns chose to have their names removed from the voter rolls here and register there. In Vathuruthy, the vote is predominantly split along CITU and INTUC loyalties,” said Mr. Ponraj.

Benoy Peter, director general of the Center for Migration and Inclusive Development, said migration to Kerala has crossed a threshold and unlike the trend of 95 per cent or more eventually returning to their homeland, there may now be a gradual increase in the number of migrants choosing to settle here.

“As the population in Kerala starts recording negative growth, the demographics are skewed in favor of North India, coupled with large-scale migration of youth abroad from Kerala, there is a shortage of workers to do physical labor here. This will also open up greater job avenues for migrant women and increase academic opportunities for their children and encourage migrants to settle,” he said.

Ernakulam district hosts a large number of migrant workers, especially from Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam.