Bihar’s Migrants

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They are at the centre of high decibel electoral sparring. But what does Bihar have to offer them?

Bihar’s allies in govt, JDU and BJP, used Stalin’s stop in Bihar – he was there to support ally Congress – to revive earlier DMK slurs against Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu. Stalin and his ministers sought to focus instead on fresh MoSPI data on Thursday that crowned TN as India’s most industrialised state and top employer of factory workers. Bihar and TN couldn’t be further apart. Bihar remains stuck at the bottom, caste networks cementing its place in poverty and poor human development. TN, despite its own caste politics, has pushed ahead, steadily progressing economically, and in inclusivity and human development performance. Certainly, TN’s success shines brighter also because Bihar sets the bar so low.

Poles apart – one’s society led by upper castes, the other Dravidian – yet the two states are inseparable, bound by an endless stream of migrants. Bihar pushes them out, TN pulls them in. Anti-migrant politics is central to political right’s appeal globally. It is no different in TN – small parties like NTK are ever-ready to whip up migrant hate. Two years ago, TN authorities swiftly tackled misinformation about attacks on Bihari migrants. Notably, Chennai and Patna together killed the attempt at stirring trouble. Now, ahead of Bihar’s election later this year and TN’s in about six months, the Bihari migrant finds himself, and his fate, at the centre of political sparring.

But the bigger tragedy is that these migrants – who build India’s gleaming cities –- barely get to exercise their vote. There are concerns that thousands of migrants’ names are missing from Bihar’s SIR draft rolls. A good number stands to lose jobs in TN’s export hubs post Trump tariffs. But before rallying them to the hustings – if they’re part of the voter rolls – Nitish & Tejashwi might want to spell out what Bihar has to offer.

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