While people were casting their vote on April 19 in different part of the country during the first phase of the Parliamentary elections, hundreds of workers who had come to Coimbatore from different States and districts missed their chance to vote.
Bijit, a tea master at a bakery on the Neelambur bypass, is working in Coimbatore for the last three years and in Tamil Nadu for the last 10 years. He did not cast his vote on April 19 in Tamil Nadu or at his home State Assam as he did not have a voter identity card.
“All my family members have returned to Tezpur in Assam to vote. I did not get my voter ID. So, I did not go,” he said.
Karthi, who also works in the same bakery, said his wife and children had gone to Madurai as it was summer vacation. He did not go home to vote. “It will cost ₹ 1,000 for travel and another ₹3,000 or so to buy things for the family when I visit them. I will have to return to work in a day. So, I did not go,” he said.
For 19-year-old Mary, who is from Nagaland, Coimbatore is her place of work for just a month now. She does not have a voter ID and is not aware of the elections.
Most of the workers, especially those from other States, do not go home, said an industrialist here. It is just a day’s leave and so they spend it in Coimbatore, without casting their vote, he said.
