Dehradun: Sunil Kumar, an e-rickshaw driver struggles to earn Rs 500 per day, but during the urban local bodies elections, his work flourished and each day he returned to his Mothrowala residence with an amount ranging between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 per day.For almost all days in the last fortnight, his e-rickshaw was hired by candidates for the poll campaigning and as per the financial status of the candidate, he charged any amount up to Rs 2,000 per day from them. Even earlier, before campaigning began in earnest, Kumar would charge for having a hoarding on the rear side of the vehicle. “It was in the last week or 10 days that e-rickshaws were hired for the entire day’s campaign. Earlier, the candidates gave us their posters, which were set up on the rear side of the vehicle. It is a good way of publicity, as we cover most parts of their constituency,” he said.Not only hundreds of e-rickshaw owners like Kumar, but flower sellers, tent house owners, caterers and tailors also saw a boom in business during the poll season Take Radha Negi for instance. Negi, who sells marigolds near a temple in Aaraghar Chowk, said that the political season boosted her income considerably. A small marigold flower garland worth Rs 20 went for Rs 30 to Rs 35 during electioneering. Likewise, the bigger garlands of Rs 30 and Rs 50 got her double the amount. “The best part about poll season is that all the flowers we had were sold and we got a good price for it. The competition was such that advance bookings were made and rather than waiting for the morning, the supporters purchased the flowers in the night itself as they had to be taken to different localities the next morning,” said Negi.In a similar vein, a caterer who did not wish to be identified, said, “Usually, either we have full catering or semi-catering. Under full catering we provide everything and the customer has to pay per plate. During the poll season, candidates and their supporters preferred semi-catering where we provide the cook, waiters, labour, utensils and gas cylinder, and the customer buys the raw materials such as pulses, flour, rice, vegetables and spices.”He added that it was hard to find a cook or kitchen workers in the past 15 days as most of them had been booked in advance. “A cook usually charges Rs 650 per day but due to shortage of workers, candidates were willing to shell more money for trained cooks. It was the same in case of other staff,” he added.Plastic chairs and “shamyanas” too were in high demand. And so were tailors. Shishir Pudhir, a small-time tailor in Nehru Colony area, was flooded with orders to make flags and scarves, especially for independent candidates. “Prominent parties have a symbol but independents get their poll symbol after filing nominations. Not only from Nehru Colony but several independent candidates from other wards, too, came to me to get their scarves, caps and flags stitched. I had to engage my wife, son and daughter to meet the orders. It was not a fixed price as some candidates gave Rs 5 for a scarf but others were willing to give even Rs 8 per piece,” he said.

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