Chanu Gupta has spent nearly his entire life in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, after arriving as a child from Uttar Pradesh. However, as the city’s elections approach, the 59-year-old street vendor won’t be able to vote, along with millions of internal migrant workers who are a crucial part of the country’s economy.
“I cannot go vote as I don’t belong to Maharashtra state,” Gupta told CNN, standing beside his roadside cart selling shaved ice and cold drinks in Mumbai’s bustling Dadar shopping district. “I have voting rights in another state.”
Under India’s election rules, eligible voters can only cast ballots in their home constituencies, which means that those working outside their state must return home to vote. This is often impractical for many out-of-state workers, especially underprivileged daily-wage workers in the unorganized sector. One study estimates there were about 600 million internal migrants in 2020, making up 43% of the country’s nearly 1.4 billion population at the time.
These workers typically come from poorer rural parts of India, seeking employment in larger cities. Despite their efforts, they earn low wages, which are often sent home to support their families.
Mumbai, India’s richest city and the birthplace of Bollywood, epitomizes this issue. Known as the “city of dreams,” Mumbai attracts migrants from across the country hoping to achieve success. According to migration think tank Knomad, over 43% of Mumbai’s population were classified as migrants during the last national census in 2011. Many of these migrants come from states with higher poverty and unemployment rates, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
This diverse mix is evident throughout Mumbai in the various languages spoken and the numerous day laborers, from auto-rickshaw drivers to construction workers and street vendors. For these workers, taking time off to vote means losing daily wages and incurring travel expenses, which impacts their families back home who depend on their income for essentials like tuition fees and rent.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of migrant workers when millions lost their jobs almost overnight and had to return home. A United Nations-led study on the pandemic’s impact on this workforce segment noted that despite relatively high living expenses in large cities, wages are low, resulting in poor living conditions and limited access to public services like water and sanitation.
India’s Diaspora
Indian citizens living abroad, part of the global Indian diaspora, face similar voting challenges, though their circumstances vary widely. Many are low-income laborers who helped build the economies of oil-rich Arab nations, while others are students or professionals in Western countries.
Government figures indicate there are 13.6 million “non-resident Indians” (NRIs) globally, with the largest group in the United Arab Emirates (3.4 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (2.5 million), and the United States (1.2 million). The plight of NRIs in Gulf nations, many of whom live in crowded dormitories and labor camps, was also underscored during the pandemic when business shutdowns and border restrictions left them stranded.
For these overseas Indians, there is no online voting or postal ballots. NRIs must register as “overseas voters” and travel to their hometowns in India to vote in person. Despite media reports of dedicated voters who can afford to fly back, such as professionals in the UK or Dubai, they represent a small fraction of the NRI population. In the 2019 national elections, the Election Commission of India reported that only 71,000 people registered as “overseas voters” – less than 1% of the total NRI population.
Push for Voter Turnout
Indian authorities have made significant efforts to increase voter turnout, encouraging all 968 million eligible voters nationwide to cast their ballots. This massive undertaking involves setting up over a million polling stations, from remote forests to mountain peaks. The Election Commission of India has also launched voter literacy initiatives and social media campaigns targeting young voters. These efforts led to the highest voter turnout in the country’s history during the 2019 election, with more than 67% of Indians voting.