Mysuru: The construction industry in Mysuru has come to a grinding halt. Thanks to the election season. 90 percent of the daily wagers have abandoned the back-breaking construction labour and have opted for easy money that comes out of political canvassing.

If construction activities in the city areas have come down by over 30 to 40 percent as most of the floating workers’ population are busy campaigning for politicians, construction in   rural belts and city outskirts are worse affected as most of the men and women in villages are politicking.

Every day, over 2,500 to 3,000 workers come to Mysuru from smaller towns like Chamarajanagar, Nanjangud and villages including Huilalu, Gungral Chatra, Nagarle, Hosa Hundi, Chinnadagudi Hundi, Badanavalu, Hemmaragala, Kavalande, Nerale, Pannedahundi, and from in and around Srirangapatna. They usually take trains by paying a nominal fare of Rs. 10 or maximum Rs. 15 per person.

Once in the city, they assemble at common points including Sri Nagaraj Talkies at Mandi Mohalla, Kuvempunagar Complex, 101 Ganapathi Temple at Agrahara, near Teresian College, Hebbal Surya Bakery, Andani Circle at Vidyaranyapuram and SJCE near Manasagangothri, from where they are picked up by contractors or in local parlance, Mesthri.

But now, even before the contractors land at the places, the daily wagers are whisked away by political party workers. While it requires a good physical built and stamina for the daily wager to be selected by a contractor, a political party worker needs only headcount to rally behind the candidates – the more the crowd, the more the benefits.

As poll fever has gripped the districts, candidates and parties are roping in these daily wage workers for election campaigns and to attend rallies. Their participation won’t be free as they are provided with money and food. Doing manual labour from around 9 am till 4.30 pm, a daily wager typically earns Rs. 400 per day but in case of political rally, he earns Rs. 700 per day and that too with tasty food.

Contractors say that over 90 percent of the construction workers are joining political rallies every day. “Instead of working, they can easily earn money by just going behind the vehicle of the election candidate. Apart from money and food, parties give them liquor at the end of the day. What more do you need,” said a contractor, speaking to Star of Mysore.

Another contractor said that the daily wage worker has no guarantee of work as he might not be selected for that day’s work and he has to return home empty handed and hungry. “On the other hand, in an election rally, payment and food are guaranteed and these people run behind the candidates,” he said.

President of Contractors Association, Mysuru City Corporation Chandrashekharaiah said that there is a lot of pending government work and workers are not available. “Added to the pending works, billing from the government side is delayed and all the officers are on election duty. This has proved a setback to the construction activities,”  he said.

Dasharath of D.K. Constructions said that workers are not even available for patch works. “Thankfully we have our regular set of workers who do not drift to other occupations including politics. The problem will be there for another 15 or 20 days till the election frenzy gets over and there is a new government,” he said.

C.D. Krishna of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Contractors Association said that though there is a severe shortage of migrant labourers, the construction activity has not been affected. “Many commercial and semi-commercial projects largely rely on workers from other States. These workers stay on sites until the projects are completed. So there is not much difference,” he said.

Suresh, a construction contractor said that the situation will be like this for another 20 days. “Daily workers accompany candidates in their campaigns and also attend political rallies and distribute poll materials to voters. If they come to work on one day, they disappear the next day citing some or the other reason. But once the elections are over and the money gained from campaigns is spent, workers have to ultimately return to manual labour,” he said.

Meanwhile, the real estate operators also facing slow down their business since money transactions are restricted during election and large money cannot be transferred, besides strict enforcement of Election Commission orders.

Udayakumar, a sale deed writer, said that due to election, registration has slow down due to restrictions on the money withdrawn and transactions. However, business operations will be normal soon after the elections results are announced on May 15.