Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a “huge” ‘Adivasi Satyagraha Rally’ at Dahod, situated in the tribal dominated Panchmahal region. It is the same district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had held his ‘Aadi Janjati Mahasammelan’ on April 20.
“Rahul Gandhi will raise issues related to tribal people’s rights, increasing taxes on tribals, economic imbalance etc during his visit to Dahod,” said Manish Doshi, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief spokesperson.
Gujarat Congress leaders are making all out efforts to make Rahul’s rally bigger than that of the Prime Minister’s. The BJP had claimed that nearly two lakh people, mostly from tribal communities, had assembled to hear Modi, who had aso launched and inaugurated projects worth Rs 22000 crore for the region before addressing the rally.
Of the 40 tribal influenced assembly seats situated across the State’s 400 km long tribal belt flanking states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, 27 seats are reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Traditionally, the tribal belt, popularly known as ‘Purvpatti’ (Eastern Belt), is spread across three regions of Gujarat from Ambaji in the North, to Godhra in Central Gujarat to Umbergaon in the South Gujarat used to be considered as Congress bastion.
Congress still has a strong presence in the tribal belt despite BJP’s continuous efforts to decimate the grand old party from this politically significant area. Out of the 27 reserved Assembly seats, 13 seats are still with the Congress. The BJP is controlling 11 while two seats are with the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP).
It is with the Bharatiya Tribal Party that Kejriwal’s AAP has tied-up to fight the polls in Gujarat buoyed by its thumping victory in the Punjab assembly polls. Kejriwal even addressed a huge rally, ‘Adivasi Sankalp Mahasammelan’, along with BTP’s top leader Chhotubhai Vasava on Gujarat’s foundation day (May 1) at Bharuch.
The Delhi Chief Minister tried to strike a chord with the tribal people by saying that first the British exploited tribals then our own people.
“The biggest irony is, the two of the richest persons (Ambani-Adani) belong to Gujarat. At the same time the poorest tribes also belong to the same state. Both BJP and Congress are with rich people. But AAP and BTP are committed to work for the betterment of tribals,” he said during the rally.
After joining hands with the AAP, BTP founder Chhotu Vasava said that neither Congress nor BJP worked for the tribals. “Arvind has promised to resolve all the issues related to tribal people. It is only possible if we (AAP-BTP alliance) come into power,” said Vasava.
Of the 27 seats in Bharuch where Kejriwal held his rally, the Congress holds 15 seats. The AAP seems to be eyeing those seats at the expense of the Congress
Despite a tough fight from the Congress, BJP scraped through to power through micro-management, which coupled with Modi’s charismatic leadership. changed the equation in the last Lok Sabha polls.
BJP hasn’t been able to capture the politically important tribal belt of Gujarat as far as assembly elections are concerned but since 2014, but has won all the 26 parliamentary constituencies including nine tribal dominated seats.
Though threatened by AAP’s resurgence, the Congress has so far not been able to put its house in order with a three-time MLA and tribal leader Ashwin Kotwal becoming the latest to quit the Congress and joining the BJP.
