BHOPAL: Fifteen months before the next assembly elections in the state, former chief minister and state Congress president Kamal Nath is on a tribal mission.
After BJP nominated and elected Droupadi Murmu as President — the first from a tribal community — the Congress is striving to keep up its influence within tribal societies. While the world celebrated International Day for Indigenous Peoples, Kamal Nath cancelled all his engagements and went to Patalpani near Mhow to pay homage at the statue of tribal icon Tantya Bhil.
After 17 of the 96 Congress MLAs cross-voted during the Presidential elections, it was thought that some of the rebels could be tribals who would find it difficult to face the electorate of their constituencies if they did not vote for Droupadi Murmu.
Nath offered floral tributes at the statue of Tantya Bhil and said: “The contribution of Tantya Mama in India’s Freedom Movement cannot be overlooked. He played a historic role in the freedom struggle.”
Madhya Pradesh has the country’s largest tribal population — over 2 crore. There are 47 tribal reserved seats in the state and the community has the ability to influence 86 assembly constituencies.
In the 2013 assembly elections, BJP won 31 of the 47 tribal reserved seats but the score reversed in 2018 when Congress got 31 and BJP only 16. Rejection by the tribal community was a major reason for BJP’s defeat in the 2018 assembly elections.
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and BJP are leaving no stones unturned to win back tribal votes in 2023. The government is celebrating Birsa Munda birth anniversary as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi came and addressed a massive tribal congregation last year.
Union home minister Amit Shah had paid tribute to tribal king Sankar Shah and Raghunath Shah at a massive function, and the BJP government also renamed Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal after tribal queen Rani Kamlapati.
With the election of Droupadi Murmu as President, the Congress is striving to retain its electoral influence of 2018. PCC media cell vice-president Abbas Hafeez told TOI, “Tribals have always been part of the Congress family. No matter what the BJP strategizes, it cannot erase what our party and our former chief minister Kamal Nath has done for them. From giving tribals land pattas to rescuing them from moneylenders — it has been the Congress that worked for the benefit of the tribal society. Our state party president’s visit to Patalpani is part of the routine that we have followed. This is not something new for us.”
