Fight for the most sought after slum vote

BASURI DESAI

basuri@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: If the section of the migrants who live in slums are usually excluded from the economic, cultural, social and political milieu and even treated as a burden, come election time they become the most sought after. 

And that time is now, as Union Ministers, National party leaders and leaders from States where the migrants have their origin; are coming to Goa to campaign, directly addressing the migrant population in areas where they stay. 

On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted the South India voters in Porvorim when Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, addressed a rally. More BJP leaders are expected, and there are several rallies planned for former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in areas dominated by the migrant population, especially the Kannadigas, on January 24. 

BJP State Unit President Vinay Tendulkar admitted that migrant votes are very important for the party and this time the party is getting a good response.

He said there would be more such leaders visiting Goa to address particular communities who have settled here. He said that Union Minister Anant Kumar, who hails from Karnataka and Smriti Irani, will also address pockets where migrant communities have settled.

Congress is also looking to attract these voters which form almost one-third of the voting population. GPCC Vice President M K Shaikh told Herald that many party leaders from Karnataka leaders and other areas would be campaigning in migrant dominated areas. He said that Oscar Fernandes, Margaret Alva and others will address meetings in Goa and that besides prominent leaders, many region centric leaders like corporators are also campaigning in areas where their community resides in Goa. 

Shaikh said that in most constituencies voters are in large numbers and equally these numbers are very important to the party.

AAP too is looking at the migrant population. State party convener Valmiki Naik said that all their leaders are addressing the migrant communities. He said, “Every vote is important to us, we have attempted to meet every voter of Goa.” 

In 2012 an all-party delegation led by then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had raised the issue of uncontrolled migration in Goa before the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while demanding special status to Goa. “The apprehension is that Goans will become an alienated microscopic minority within their own State,” the memorandum submitted to PM had said, which was supported by the authenticated census report of 2011. 

Official data confirms that migration is diluting the ethnic character of the State. In the first decade after liberation, the growth of population was 34.77 percent, and the trend of migration that began then is still contributing to population growth even 55 years later.