GRAND GESTURES
Earlier this month, nearly 1,500 dancers from across India and 10 countries descended on Raipur for the National Tribal Dance Festival. It was a gala affair with a host of folk performances, music and a variety of food stalls. There was, however, more to the festival than just song and dance: the fact that for the Bhupesh Baghel government, this was also an attempt at soothing the tribals in Chhattisgarh wasn’t lost on anyone.
The third edition of the dance festival, held from November 1 to 3 and coinciding with the state’s Foundation Day celebrations, came at a time when assembly polls are just over a year away and the faultlines between Chhattisgarh’s tribal groups—who constitute 31 per cent of the state’s population—and other communities are deepening. In August, Chhattisgarh notified rules under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. The tribals had expected that this would give them a larger say through gram sabhas, but they say that the new rules have given more powers to district collectors. In any case, other non-tribal, chiefly OBC, groups had opposed the rules.
Moreover, in September, the Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that reservation in educational institutions and jobs cannot breach 50 per cent, setting aside a 2012 amendment to the 1994 reservation rules that had enhanced the quota for tribals from 20 to 32 per cent. After the amendment, the total reservation for STs, SCs (slashed from 16 to 12 per cent) and OBCs (unchanged at 14 per cent) had touched 58 per cent. The order has angered tribal groups, who have accused the Baghel government of, first, not representing their cause effectively in the HC, and now dragging its feet in approaching the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling. The Sarv Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella body of 42 tribal groups, had called for a boycott of the dance festival to press for the restoration of 32 per cent reservation. The Samaj also said that it will hold an economic blockade on November 15.
From organising protests to taking swipes at the Congress, the opposition BJP seems to be cashing in on the situation. Separately, Chhattisgarh governor Anusuiya Uikey wrote to Baghel on November 3, enquiring about the steps being taken on the reservation issue. The Congress has so far been on the back foot, though it has blamed the previous Raman Singh government for not making a legally strong amendment to the reservation rules, leading to a setback in court.
Against this backdrop, Baghel perhaps saw in the dance festival an opportunity to smooth ruffled feathers, and gave out pattas (land deeds) to tribals, returning the 1,764 hectares of land in Lohandiguda that the Raman Singh-led BJP government acquired in 2008 for a
TRIBALS MAKE UP 31 PER CENT OF THE STATE’S POPULATION, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR VOTES ISN’T LOST ON ANYONE
Tata Steel project that never took off. “The erroneous concept of development has posed a threat to the rights of tribals over their jal, jangal and zameen [water, forests and land],” Baghel said at the festival. He also told the media recently that his government will move the Supreme Court to increase reservation for tribals as per their population. On November 9, he sent a proposal to the assembly Speaker to hold a special session next month over the issue.
In another significant step, the state government wrote to the Union environment ministry on October 31, seeking cancellation of the approval given to the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd for non-forestry use of 841.54 hectares of land in the Parsa Coal Block of Hasdeo Arand forest. It stated that the continuing protests around it could become a law and order issue. Notably, the Baghel government cleared the land for use in April after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot met his Chhattisgarh counterpart to discuss pending approvals.
WHY TRIBAL VOTES MATTER
Of the 90 seats in the state assembly, 29 are reserved for ST candidates. Currently, the Congress holds all 14 segments in north Chhattisgarh and 12 in south Chhattisgarh, where tribal votes are significant. In total, the party has 27 of the total ST-reserved seats, against the 18 it had won in 2013.
Thus, even as both the Congress and the BJP focus on OBC outreach nationally, the criticality of tribal votes in Chhattisgarh is clear as day. The BJP seems to be eyeing a comeback in north Chhattisgarh, riding on Hindutva issues. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will be in Jashpur on November 14 to unveil the bust of late BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo. The programme is likely to reignite the subject of religious conversions as Judeo was widely known for his ‘ghar wapsi’ campaigns in the state. Structurally as well, the BJP recently effected changes in its state unit and inducted new faces to improve its poll prospects.
Amid such high stakes, the dance festival was perhaps just a glimpse of the politics around tribal votes, which may only grow more intense as both parties pull out their best moves. ■