The tribal communities, who dominated the Mewar region in Rajasthan, are set to witness a curious fight in the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In Udaipur and Dungarpur districts, tribals are openly talking about their rights, neglected for a decade, and the two main political parties are feeling the heat.
“Na Lok Sabha na Vidhan Sabha, Sabse Oonchi Gram Sabha” (Neither Lok Sabha nor Vidhan Sabha, but Gram Sabha is supreme) — reads a slogan on the walls of almost every village in rural Mewar.
This is not just another slogan on the wall. It underlines the influence of fledgling Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) which is distorting the political pitch in the largely bipolar political region of Rajasthan. Though independents and parties like the BSP have often played spoilsport, BTP is now being taken seriously. The main reason – in its first contest during assembly elections in December last year, the BTP won two of the 11 seats it contested.
Now, Bharatiya Tribal Party is contesting in four parliamentary seats – Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Banswara-Dungarpur, and Jodhpur. “According to the locals, both Congress and BJP are openly saying that BTP is supporting them. This shows that for the first time we tribes have made the parties nervous.
BTP state president Velaram Ghoghra told a news agency- “We are not in alliance with any party. There is a reason behind BTP’s emergence – in our candidates winning two Assembly seats and almost winning the third. Neither Congress nor the BJP has done anything for the tribals in this belt.”
The biggest election issue in the tribal belt is a February 13 Supreme Court order that ordered the eviction of tribals and other traditional forest dwellers whose claims had been rejected under the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
BTP seems to have tapped into this sentiment. It has also made last year’s Supreme Court order, which banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, an election issue.
Therefore, the party, who is all set to disturb the political sum in the region, looks forward to take-over Mewar and Vagad.
