2 flags a day keeps hunger away

Khammam: Campaigning for the forthcoming elections is providing a livelihood for many low income groups. They can earn Rs 400 to Rs 600 daily by participating in election rallies. It is additional income for those who work as maids and part-time workers. 

P. Venkatamma, a housemaid surprised her employer when she came in early for work. When asked why she had come early for work, she said that she was going to the election campaign of one political party in the morning and another in the evening.

“We do not know the political parties. A person, who leads the activity, asked us to come to the rally for two hours. They pay '200 or '300 for two to three hours,” she said. TRS and TD are the front runners in Khammam and they have been engaging people for rallies and campaign. The people participating in the rallies do not have much political knowledge and they will do what the organiser tells them to do. If TRS engages them, they will hold the TRS flag and the TD flag if they invite people from small income groups. There are a number of occasions when the same person holds one flag in the morning and another in the evening. For them, the flag does not make much of a difference, but the money makes a huge difference. 

K. Satyanarayana, a political party organiser said, “The party activists do not show much interest in holding party flags and most of them ask for jeeps and cars. The part-time workers are being engaged to hold the party flags.” TD which has fielded Nama Nageswara Rao as its candidate in Khammam can hardly manage to get Congress workers to participate. 

Even the Congress flags are being ordered by TD and not the Congress. There is no person in the TPCC office to look after these matters and all such work is upon TD leaders. The TD workers distributed 50 TD and Congress flags are being distributed equally according to the number engaged on the day for the campaign.