BJPlooks to makeinroads in Cong’s tribal vote base
ELECTION STRATEGY Ruling party eyes community votes to offset likely losses among the OBCs, Patidars but activists say tribals feel ‘exploited’ by both the mainstream parties
Barely a kilometre off the main road at Ahwa, the headquarters of the tribal-dominated Dang district of Gujarat, is a sprawling ashramwithfacilities forhealthcareandeducationthat faroutstripanythingavailablein one of India’s poorest regions.
At the ashram is a residential facility for 50tribalstudents, who payanominalfeeof ₹1,000ayear for lodging; local villagers are trained in farm techniques and animal rearing; and there are self-help groups for women and nutritional programmes for expecting mothers.
The campus that came up in 2006 is run by the Vanavasi KalyanAshram(VKA),anaffiliateof the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and it represents the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)persistenteffortstoexpand itsfootprintinaCongressbastion usinganetworkoforganisations.
Dang is home to 200,000 tribal folks, including the Bhils, Kokanis and Warlis, and has traditionally voted for the Congress butmanytribalssaytheyaredissatisfied with the party.
The BJP is eyeing tribal communities, which comprise around15% of the state’s population and can influence the outcome of 35-odd seats in a 182memberassembly,tooffsetpossible losses among the other backward classes (OBC) and the disgruntled Patidars.
Pre-poll surveys, such as one by Lokniti at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS),showashiftintribalvote from the Congress to the BJP on accountofpopularschemessuch as Ujjwala (freeLPGcylindersto poorfamilies).Butsomeacademics disagree. DrJCPatel, headof theSociologydepartmentinGujarat University says tribal communitiesfeel “exploited” byboth mainstream parties. “Many tribal groups are upset with the
DANG:
BJP for giving ST certificates to pastoral communitiesinGirforest. The groups have indicated that they support the party that will fulfil their demands includingtheproperimplementationof the fifth schedule,” he said.
The fifth schedule of the Constitution allows for federal administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes in states except the Northeastern region.
InDang’sBorkhetwheremost villagershavebeengivenhouses undertheIndiraAwasYojnaand toilets after the Swachh Bharat mission was announced, villagers complain of water shortage. When ground water levels fall after the rainy season, agricultureisnolongeranoptionandthe villagers shift to poorly-paidcontractual labour jobs.
Election fever is yet to pick up here,thoughsomesectionsseem contenttopick“NarendraModi”. They take pride in the fact that the son-of- the-soil is the country’sprimeminister.Inadjoining Mulchond,waterscarcity,poorly runhealthcentresandthelackof jobs are a major grouse.
Villagersheresay thoughthey have been voting for the Con- of state’s 182 seats reserved for community of Gujarat's 60 million population are tribals seats where tribal vote can influence the outcome gress,theydonotforeseetheany changes in their fortunes if the BJP is voted to power. “They are allthesame,”saysDevramBhai, a farmer.
Tribalrights activistssayboth major parties are equally guilty of neglecting the community.
“Thepromisetoprovideforest land for cultivation remains on paper, reservation for tribes is not properly implemented and therearenoavenuesforemployment. Tribals are not an issue in this election where for the first timevotingislikelytobeoncaste lines,” says SH Iyer, convener of the civil rights group Jan Sang- harsh Manch.
Whichwaywillthetribalvote then swing? Will it stay with the Congress or opt for the BJP?
RomelSutariyaoftheAdivasi KisanSangharshMorchasaysit could be either way; but is quick to add that tribal rights groups are collectively demandingtheir rights and a face from within.
“Many tribal groups feel they need a leader from among themselves.TheBJPdoesnotcareand theCongress,whichshouldhave played the role of the Opposition inhighlightingtheproblems,has failed too,” he said.
The need for an alternative is also accentuated by the fact that tribal communities have had to rely on ‘others’ to be their voice. Congress’AmarsinhChaudhary who was the chief minister from 1985-89 is perceived as the last tribal leader of reckoning in the state, though his son Tushar too rose to the position of a union minister of state.
Problems in the implementation of the forest rights act are a bigissueamongthesecommunities. In the Tapi region, tribal groups are also up in the arms against illegal sand mining and stone crushing. .