Hit by water woes, no jobs, tribals in M.P. have little hope from LS polls
No political leader or candidate talks about issues on the ground, say community members in the Mahakoshal area of the State
Agroup of women, many of them tribals, aged between 20 and 60, take a waterbreak from their MGNREGA work of silt clearing from a stop-dam at Saliwada village of Mandla (Schedule Tribes reserved) Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh’s Mahakoshal region.
The women, from nearby villages, share similar issues ranging from unemployment and migration of youth for work to unavailability of drinking water.
Rakhya Bai Sirsaam, 55, of Prem Nagar village says her son and daughter-inlaw, are both graduates, but have not found work. “My son works with his father in the elds and goes to cities to nd work in the o¢ season. My daughter-in-law is forced to do household chores only,” she says.
Six seats of the State’s tribal belt go to the polls in the rst phase on April 19.
These are Balaghat, Mandla (ST), Jabalpur, Shahdol and Chhindwara of Mahakoshal region and Sidhi of Vindhya region. With 21% share in the State’s population, tribals form an inuencial chunk in many parts of Madhya Pradesh.
In their recent poll rallies, top leaders of the BJP and the Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, appealed to the community through emotions and promises. While Mr. Modi claimed that his government has honoured tribal gures such as Birsa Munda and Tantya Bheel, Mr. Gandhi promised implementation of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in districts with over 50% community population.
These topics, however, do not resonate much with tribal people across Mahakoshal. They have little expectations from the upcoming election and say no political leader or candidate talks about issues on the ground.
“Any leader who has won an election from here in the past has not returned to our village after the polls. Young men from every second house here go out to nd work,” says Gendlal Tekam, 25.
The BJP has elded Union Minister and sitting MP Faggan Singh Kulaste from Mandla, who is facing a tough election with the voters alleging a disconnect.