Come election season, and the demand for the humble gamchha — a traditional coarse cotton cloth worn around the neck in the eastern states of the country — soars, as political parties place bulk orders for their leaders and workers to wear during campaigns and rallies. After the notification of Lok Sabha elections in March this year, the BJP placed an order of at least 300,000 gamchhas and 400,000 topis (caps) with the party name and symbol imprinted on them, with weavers in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, said an office-bearer at the BJP headquarters.
In Delhi, which receives a large chunk of the orders, traders in Gandhi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Chandni Chowk and Sadar Bazar are struggling to meet the demand, as apart from the BJP, other parties such as the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too have placed orders. “At least 75,000 specially designed ‘Loktantra Bachao’ gamchhas and 1.5 lakh (150,000) topis were sold between March 28 and 31, for the INDIA alliance rally,” said Chhaya Sharma, AAP councillor of Brahmapuri ward in northeast Delhi.
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Sumit Kumar (35), who runs a wholesale cloth store in Gandhi Nagar, said that this time the sale of customised gamchhas and topis is likely to triple in comparison to their sale during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2020 assembly elections. “Shopkeepers of trans-Yamuna markets supplied 2 lakh (200,000) gamchhas and 3 lakh (300,000) caps during elections in 2019. We supplied around 2.5 lakh (250,000) gamchhas and 3.5 lakh (350,000) caps during 2020 assembly elections, and this year, we have got orders of 5.5 lakh (550,000) gamchhas and 8 lakh (800,000) caps so far,” Kumar said.
And then there are caps with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face imprinted on them which are equally popular, said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor. “In the last parliamentary elections, at least 2 crore voters wore Modi caps, and this time, it will be two times more,” said Kapoor.
Once the wholesalers receive the orders, they engage the services of weavers in Bhagalpur and Banka in Bihar, and Bhagaiya (Godda) in Jharkhand. “But most of the weavers are Muslims and they were unable to weave for longer hours during the month of Ramzan as they were fasting. We will now be able to strike a balance between supply and demand,” said Rajesh Agrawal (42), who runs a wholesale store in Krishna Nagar.
Each gamchha and topi for a party worker is usually priced below ₹100 and ₹50, respectively. There are two more grades of gamchhas and topis that are woven — for mid-rank leaders, and for senior party leaders. “The rate per piece of gamchha for a mid-rank rank leader is ₹200, and a topi for ₹100; while it’s ₹800- ₹1,500 a gamchha and ₹250- ₹400 for a cap for a senior leader,” said Agrawal.
Apart from this, at least 2,000 customised silk gamchhas and caps — meant to be gifted to top leaders during campaigns — have been ordered by leaders of different political parties in Delhi. “These silk gamchha go for at least ₹5,000 a piece,” he said.
It is estimated that Purvanchalis (migrants from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh in Delhi) are nearly one-third of the city’s over two crore population. And this growth in numbers means the community has the power to sway electoral fortunes in parliamentary constituencies such as west, east, northeast, northwest, and south Delhi.
Manoj Tiwari, the BJP’s nominee from northeast Delhi, said, “The gamchha is a symbol of prestige for Purvanchali people. It is our identity. It saves us from the scorching sun; we wipe our sweat with it; and sometimes we use it to tie anti-social elements. We also use it during Chhath, when we roll it, perch it on our head, so it can hold the basket in which we keep our sacred things.”
Alim Ansari, secretary of Resham Bunkar Khadi Gramodyog Sangh, Bhagalpur, one of the oldest weavers’ co-operatives in Bihar, said that over 5,000 weavers are engaged in weaving gamchhas and caps for this election season. “We have received orders of at least 4 lakh gamchhas from Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, of which 2.5 lakh saffron gamchha orders have come just from Delhi. The Bhagalpuri gamchha is famous in India. If orders from other states are included, the figures will cross over 25 lakh gamchhas,” explained Ansari.
He said that one weaver can weave up to 30 gamchhas a day and is paid ₹30-40 per piece. “They earn ₹900- ₹1,200 per day. Our weavers, mostly women, are working overnight to meet the demand,” he said.
In Jharkhand too, bulk orders have led to at least 1,500 weavers from the Godda belt being employed. “Elections are a lifeline for poor weavers. Ever since synthetic yarns and power-looms were introduced, the traditional weavers haven’t got much work. Now, the exporters and wholesale agents give the orders to their own local weavers as it reduces the manufacturing cost. But to meet the bulk orders during elections, they give the orders to us,” said Intesaar Alam, secretary of Santal Pargana weavers’ welfare society, a Jharkhand-based weavers’ organisation.
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He said that during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar and Jharkhand had received orders of at least ₹60 crore. “This time, it will touch ₹100 crore, of which at least 10% will go to the weavers,” Alam said.
AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha, meanwhile, said that the rise in demand of accessories indicates that the Opposition is geared up to take on the BJP. “Earlier, our cadre was not very interested in this. Now that it’s about fighting to save the Constitution, we too are giving importance to such electioneering. And, since most of our supporters are common people, they prefer gamachhas and topis in our rallies,” he said.
