Tribal votes hold the key to MP assembly elections

With 47 constituencies reserved for STs, the Congress will have to counter the growing influence of the RSS

THE ROLE OF THE RSS IN MOBILISING TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN MADHYA PRADESH AND CENTRAL INDIA UNDER THE HINDUTVA PLANK ULTIMATELY HELPS THE BJP’S ELECTORAL POLITICS

Madhya Pradesh is gearing up for assembly elections this year. Political parties are competing to capture votes of the various social groups .The tribal communities constitute a large voting population in the state. They constitute 21.1% of the state’s population. There are 47 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh that are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 30 other assembly seats where tribal communities can play an important role in determining victory or loss. These tribal voters can decide the destiny of any political party.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is trying hard to keep the support of the tribal communities which he has acquired in previous elections intact. He is formulating policies and dangling various privileges at the tribal communities to make them support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Recently, for example, he declared elaborate incentives for tendu leave collectors. The Madhya Pradesh government is compiling records of labourers from unorganised sectors and distributing water bottles, footwear and saris among them.BJP president Amit Shah chose the tribal-dominated area of Jabalpur to hold a BJP election management committee meeting recently. Prime minister Narendra Modi spoke at length about the contribution of tribal communities in the making of the nation in his Mandala rally held in April this year. Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia are also intensifying their contact campaigns in tribal areas. During his village campaign, Digvijay Singh gave special emphasis to tribal villages located around the Narmada Valley. However, a few local groups among Madhya Pradesh’s tribes are asserting their own identity and trying to evolve a politics that can challenge both the BJP and the Congress. Jai Aadivasi Yuva Shakti, for instance, is planning to contest assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Another important mobilistional phenomenon that usually doesn’t get much attention is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The role of the RSS in mobilising tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh and central India under the Hindutva plank ultimately helps the BJP’s electoral politics. However, the interventions of the Hindutva organisation among tribals in Madhya Pradesh are not new. During the 1930s, many princely states passed an anticonversion law in tribal zones. The activities of missionaries and the rise in conversion of tribals to Christianity created situations in which Hindutva organisations got space to work among tribal people.

During the 1950s, the Vanwasi Kalyan Parishad, an allied organisation of the RSS, began working in central India, especially Madhya Pradesh. It launched various projects in the areas of health ,education, and livelihood. Through these projects, it has been slowly expanding its reach among the tribal people. It is working hard to reshape the tribal identity as the Hindu vanwasi identity. The RSS and its affiliates also launched the Ghar Wapasi campaign that reconverted converted tribals to the Hindu religion or their indigenous religion. In this way, the RSS has not only reshaped the religious consciousness of the tribals but is also gradually trying to rebuild their political consciousness .The RSS’s intervention among tribal people in Madhya Pradesh slowly weakened the Congress’s stronghold among the tribals. This resulted in a major shift of tribal voting patterns in favour of the BJP in the previous elections. The growing influence of the RSS in tribal zones has made many stalwart tribal leaders of the Congress irrelevant, even in their own areas of influence.

Another political stream that may influence the voting pattern of tribal people in the elections directly or indirectly is a version of extreme left groups who are active in the border areas of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Pathal Gadi movement emerged in Madhya Pradesh’s tribal regions under the influence of Krishna Hans, a leader from Jharkhand. This movement may contribute to shaping the opinion of the tribal communities in the polls. The Congress is yet to begin aggressive campaigning in tribal areas. We need to see whether the BJP manages to retain its electoral influence over the tribes. The elections will also test the impact of the RSS’s sewa campaign among the tribals.