
Lakhan Oraon, a construction worker in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, has plans to visit his hometown in Lohardaga, west of Ranchi, the state capital of Jharkhand, only in December this year around the time of Christmas. The first phase of Assembly elections in the state is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, November 13, but Lakhan, who hails from the Oraon tribal community, did not find the elections a compelling reason to advance his trip by a few weeks.