Cong wins majority of SC/ST seats
JAIPUR: The Congress won a majority of the 59 assembly seats reserved for the scheduled classes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) in Rajasthan. The party won 31 of these seats, and the BJP’S tally came down to 21, from 50 in 2013.
A new tribal party – the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) – won two seats in the Dungarpur district in south Rajasthan. The party contested on 11 seats across the state and on all four in Dungapur. Rajkumar Roat won from Chorasi and Ramprasad from Sagwara, both reserved for the ST.
Tribal l eader Chhotubhai Vasava founded the party in Guj- arat in 2017 after he parted ways with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United). It contested in neighbouring Rajasthan to expand its footprint.
“The BTP is popular among the younger generation, especially students. It was expected to play a spoiler in some constituencies. Despite not being here for a long time, it has made its mark by winning two seats,” said Sanjay Lodha, a professor at Mohanlal Sukhadia University in Udaipur.
According to the 2011 census, the SCS constitute 17.8% of state’s population and the STS are 13.5%. There are 34 seats reserved for the SCS and 25, for the STS. There are seven divisions in Rajasthan; the SC seats are spread out through the division, and the ST seats are concentrated in the Uda- ipur division, comprising Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand and Chittorgarh districts that form the Mewar region.
The tribal heartland was in sharp focus for both the parties. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje launched her political campaign from the Udaipur division’s Charbhuja temple, and Congress president Rahul Gandhi held a ‘Sankalp Rally’ in Sagwara in Dungarpur district in the first of his election meetings.
The BJP felt emboldened by the return of Meena leader, Kirodi Lal Meena, who was said to have considerable influence in the tribal constituencies. But he failed to make an impact and the party didn’t win any of the ST seats in the Bharatpur division where he has an influence. Meena left the BJP in 2008 over differences with Raje.
The Congress, on its part, included tribal leader Raghuveer Singh Meena in its highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The SC population is concentrated in the northern and eastern parts of the state. In the Jaipur division, which comprises Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur, Alwar and Dausa districts, the Congress won seven out of 8 SC seats.
Dalit rights activist Surajmal Kardam said the BJP paid for booking people from the community for the April 2 protests against perceived dilution of the SC/ST Act. “More than 2,500 people across Rajasthan face criminal cases for the protest,” he said.