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Description
On October 27, Mithilanchal’s young men, who have been married a year and live elsewhere across India, returned to their home districts – Darbhanga and Madhubani – to be pampered by their in-laws on what is called the Kojagraha festival. They were showered with gifts, folk songs were sung for the ‘damaads’ by the womenfolk on the in-laws’ side and the best food was served through day-long merriment. The “forward caste” young men descend on Mithilanchal from different parts of India, primarily Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, Delhi and Kolkata, where they work as migrant labour. This time, the “homecoming” has nearly coincided with elections in Mithilanchal and Seemanchal, which go to the polls in the fifth – and final – phase of Bihar’s staggered assembly polls on November 5, increasing the vote base of the BJP which has traditionally been the recipient of upper caste votes. “This Kojagraha, the BJP can expect 25% more votes to be cast in its favour in the Mithilanchal region,” Raman Mishra, Hindi newspaper Prabhat Khabar’s representative in Madhubani said. While that number may sound too high, the Kojagraha festival will certainly push a good number of Bihar’s young men, hundreds of thousands of who work as migrant labour beyond the bounds of their state, to extend their leave from work and vote on November 5. Kojagraha is not celebrated in the other parts of Bihar which has seen a moderate voter turnout in the ongoing election. With voter turnout in the first, second, third and fourth phases recorded at 54.85%, 54.99%, 54.24% and 57.59%, respectively, the average stands at 55.41%, a figure which can only be attributed to high levels of out-migration. The migration of men out of the state also explains the high turnout of women.
Keywords
Bihar, voter, out migration, election, poverty, India, turnout, state, women, migrant labour, work
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