Tea garden workers in Assam play a crucial role in choosing the state government. They influence about 35 Assembly seats in Upper Assam. Two major announcements by the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led state government just before the Assembly elections suggest the lotus, the BJP's party symbol, could bloom once more in the tea gardens.
At present, workers get Rs 250 per day, and from April 1, that will rise to Rs 280. So just before Assam votes on April 9, tea garden workers' daily wage will go up by thirty rupees.
The government has also made tea-garden workers owners of the land their ancestors have lived on for decades. Under Mission Basundhara, the state is issuing land leases to tea-garden families.
Official data say about 3.5 lakh families in 760 gardens will get rights to the land they occupy. In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally distributed leases to beneficiaries.
The echo of these two decisions was heard at a tea garden in Golaghat district, 25 km before Jorhat.
Workers are demanding a Rs 500 daily wage because of rising prices, but for now they're happy with the Rs 30 hike.
There's also huge enthusiasm over land leases.
Bijoy Mirdha, working in the garden, said they are satisfied with the government.
"Two hundred years have passed, and now Modi Ji has given us land rights. It will raise our dignity," he said.
He also called for higher wages and better health services.
Would mood change if opposition promised bigger wage hike?
Most workers say they expect a bigger wage hike from the current government.
"Since 2016, the BJP government has carried out development work in tea-garden areas. Earlier, officials used regulations as an excuse to block schemes there. Now land leases and higher wages have only strengthened BJP's base," former Tea Board of India chairman PK Bezbaruah said.
Tea-garden worker Jogodu Dusadh has already received his lease. Showing the digital document, his joy was clear - he said it feels great to be a landowner.
Nearly 200 years ago the British brought these workers' ancestors from tribal areas across India for tea cultivation. Now they're becoming owners, though their demand for Scheduled Tribe status remains pending - a point Congress uses to attack the BJP government. But questions alone will not change things.
The current situation in the gardens suggests the lotus crop is flourishing. To win these workers back, Congress will have to work hard - and wait a long time.
