Chappar, naali, roshni top agenda of migrant aspirants

“Chappar, nali, roshni yahi mudde hain. Bas sewa karni hai (pond, drains, electricity…these are the issues. I just want to serve people),” says Ranjit Muni as he campaigns for post of panch at the Sanghowal village.

In the Sikh-dominated rural belt of Doaba in Punjab, a bunch of migrant workers test the waters of the panchayat poll — mostly with the dream of ensuring better facilities for their village communities.

In most of these villages, strong migrant communities have ensured that these men can contest polls. Mostly from Bihar (many from Khagaria district), the uplift of their communities and solving the chappar (pond), pani (water) and batti (power) crisis in their communities are the priorities on their minds.

Three ‘migrants’ are contesting from Sanghowal for panch and one each from Fazalpur and Kang Sabu.

Hailing from Khagaria, Ranjit Muni, who came to Punjab with his family in 1984 has been pursuing farming of vegetables on contract basis. He says, “I was employed as a gunman with a former Bihar CM. After a nasty fight back home, I quit everything and came here with my family. We have three-day-long power cuts and problems of water and a dirty village ‘chappar’. I want to fix all this. That’s why I wanted a candle as a symbol. I earn just enough to eat dal-roti and own a pucca house. I contested last year too, but lost.” Ranjit is facing another migrant villager, Vinod Muni, in ward number 4 of Sanghowal. Vinod Muni won last panchayat poll.

Pawan Kumar, contesting from ward number 1 at Sanghowal, says, “My father came here in 1971. I was born here and went on to do contract farming. My father never thought I would be a ‘panch’. I can still not dream of being a sarpanch. Last year, villagers didn’t allow me to contest. But this year, those very same people are supporting me. I want to clean the village pond, get streetlights and refurbish the dilapidated Shiv mandir.”

Inder (35) from Fazalpur village in Kartarpur works at a potato store and doesn’t even have a pucca house yet. His father shifted to Punjab 40 to 50 years ago. Hailing from Saharsa in Bihar, he says, “Dwellings of the migrant community in the village don’t get water, light…anything. The sarpanch keeps promising housing colonies and clean water. I want to give a better future to my sons and the sons of my kinsmen.”