Telangana: Builders and ryots hit as workers drawn to rallies in Huzarabad

HYDERABAD: The prolonged campaign blitzkrieg for the yet-to-be announced Huzurabad bypoll has had unintended collateral damage — farmers and builders. The political heat has singed these two as their labourers have trooped out of paddy fields and construction sites to march for any party with a better offer in cash or kind.
The desertion has left farmers from surrounding areas worried about finishing sowing on time. Same is the case with builders, as work has stalled and deadlines have gone out of the window.
The high-stakes battle in Huzarabad has led to parties pressing for huge crowds even for minor programmes in distant locations. Even in places with less than 1,000 people, fierce inter/intra-party competition has resulted in local workers assembling crowds bigger than area’s total population. There is pressure on rank and file to prove their influence with local public in front of state-level party representatives camping in Huzurabad.
“It is not just about election, but also linked to competition among local leaders to outscore others in their own party,” a local TRS leader said To accomplish this, party workers this time threw the net beyond the local youth and the fresh catch brought in farm hands and construction workers.
The going rate is usually at least Rs 500 each day, travel expenses and booze for these seasonal political workers.
While the parties aren’t complaining, farmers, who don’t have the deep pockets to match, have been left fuming. “We need at least 15 people per acre per day. But we are getting about half of them as parties are offering them better wages. We raised the wages to Rs 350 per day instead of Rs 250, but we are still not getting our labourers back,” rued KV Rajanna, a farmer.
Builders are in the same ditch too. Their lofty plans have been grounded as construction work in the town and neighbouring areas has drastically slowed down due to manpower shortage. “Work has been hit badly for past month. Some people have been even forced to postpone house-warming ceremonies due to pending work,” said Ch Avinash Reddy, a builder.