Anjaneya, 21, is a B.A. final year student from Raichur in North Karnataka, who is now helping lay footpaths in an upmarket area of Bengaluru.
“We will go for one day, cast our vote, and come back. We are here because during summer, no agriculture is possible.... Farmers need to be helped with loan waivers and other measures as variations in rain is affecting us a lot. We have 1.5 acres but the crop was destroyed due to heavy rain. I am doing labour while studying so I can get a better job,” he said.
As election fever catches up in Karnataka and political discourse overshadows everything else, for the large number of migrant workers in Bengaluru, who come from far and near in search of work, the world is the same. According to the Census 2011 data on migration into cities and States, not only did the number of migrants in Karnataka increase from the previous decade, but with 42.12% of Greater Bengaluru’s population originating from outside the district or outside the State, ranking second among comparable metros with migrant populations.
