As the BJP’s glittering, repurposed election drives into the labour chowk of Mathura, daily wage workers surround it with the hope that the party would recruit them for electioneering at ₹500 per person. But all they get is a BJP booklet titled “Mero Brij”.
“Ya ko kya karoon? ₹500 de do, saath le chalo din bhar ko (What can I do with this? Pay me ₹500 andtake me along for electioneering),” says a disappointed Chandan Singh from a village in Goverdhan constituency, who has been standing at the cross-roads since early morning waiting for work. There are hundreds like him, most of them have e-Shram cards, but no work. “We paid ₹50 each to get them [e-Shram card] made with the hope that ₹2,000 will come into our account but we haven’t received the installment,” alleged another worker Fateh Singh.
