Bhopal
BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh recorded an overall 66.87 percent voter turnout in the four-phased parliamentary polls that concluded in the State on May 13. The turnout was a drop of 4.3 percent compared to 2019. Incidentally, last time around, the voter turnout had increased by over 9.5 percent when compared to 2014.
The Lok Sabha polls were held for the 29 constituencies including six tribal seats on April 19, April 26, May 7 and May 13. Among the six, Shahdol recorded the lowest 64.68 percent turnout while Betul recorded 66.75 percent. The remaining four, however, saw turnouts of over 70 percent with Dhar at 72.76 percent, Mandla at 72.84 percent, and Ratlam and Khargone at 72.94 percent and 76.03 percent respectively.
Comparatively, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the overall voting turnout in Shahdol was 74.76 percent, 75.25 percent in Dhar, 75.70 in Ratlam, 77.79 percent in Mandla, 77.84 percent in Khargone and 78.18 percent in Betul.
In 2019, the BJP had won 28 of the 29 constituencies including these six tribal Lok Sabha seats while the Congress could win the lone seat of Chhindwara, the home turf of its seniormost leader and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
Around 6 months ago in the Assembly elections in December 2023, the BJP had won an impressive majority bagging 163 seats in the 230-member House while the grand old party registered victory in 66 seats and the Bharatiya Adivasi Party won one seat.
Similarly, overall, of the total 152 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assemblies, where elections were held late last year, the Congress lagged the BJP by just two seats. While the BJP won 55 ST seats, the Congress emerged victorious on 53 ST seats.
The Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) — a congregation of six parties — led by a former IPS officer Lalduhoma ended Zoramthanga’s rule bagging 27 of the 40 Assembly seats while the incumbent Mizo National Front could win a mere 10 seats.
“Inferences about anti-incumbency are drawn both in case of a lower or a higher voter turnout, mostly factoring in the perceived general sentiments of the masses and the media. In case of MP, facing a weakened Congress and riding on the impressive showing in the recent Assembly polls, the BJP seems to be sitting pretty. But then, predicting a voter’s mindset has never been easy,” a political observer said.
Madhya Pradesh, the Hindi heartland state, has the highest number of 6 Lok Sabha seats reserved for tribals and it has been a BJP stronghold for the last two decades. It won 27 of LS seats in 2019, 25 seats in 2014, 16 seats in 2009 and 25 seats in the 2004 general elections.
This time, the BJP had pitted Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste (Mandla), outgoing MPs Himadri Singh (Shadol), Durga Das Uikey (Betul), Gajendra Patel (Khargone), Savitri Thakur (Dhar) and Anita Singh Chauhan (Ratlam) against Congress’ former state minister Omkar Singh Markam, Phundelal Marko, Ramu Tekam, Porlal Kharte, Radheshyam Muvel and former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria.
Madhya Pradesh had been at the centrestage of Modi and the erstwhile Shivraj Singh Chouhan governments’ pro-tribal initiatives. Had it not been for the extensive tribal push, the BJP would not have notched up such victories in the 2023 Assembly polls.
Madhya Pradesh was the State from where Modi announced the observance of tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas and launched the National Sickle Cell Elimination Mission. The Centre of Excellence for Sports for talented tribal students too was announced while the State government notified the rules of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act) on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in November 2022.
The fifth schedule areas include Jhabua, Mandla, Dhar, Khargone, Khandwa, Betul, Seoni, Balaghat, Morena and Sailana tehsil in Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh where the PESA Act implemented.
Renaming of railway stations after tribal freedom fighters, setting up their lifesize statues and museums dedicated to them, launching the ambitious PVTG Mission, and increasing the budget outlays for the Tribal Affairs Ministry, the tribal-centric steps have been a regular affair in the Modi government’s second tenure.
In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, the four ST reserved parliamentary constituency seats of Raigarh, Surguja, Bastar and Kanker witnessed a higher voter turnout in the three-phase polls, compared to 2019.
