BJP woos tribals with hope to win Chhattisgarh Assembly elections
RAIPUR: As Chhattisgarh gears up for the Assembly elections next month, the opposition BJP in the state faces an uphill task to win the support of tribal population, that is said to have significantly influenced the poll outcome in the past.
In the 2018 state polls, the BJP suffered a huge setback in tribal-dominated seats.
According to poll experts, the recent rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the tribal belt and launch of the party’s two Parivartan Yatras from tribal pockets indicate the party’s efforts to woo tribals.
The state elections will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.
In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, 29 seats
are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category,
which comprises around 32 per cent of the state’s population.
The ruling Congress, which won 25 out of 29 ST-reserved seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, is hopeful of bagging more seats than the last time, banking on its government’s tribal welfare schemes.
Apart from the anti-incumbency, lack of coordination between top BJP tribal leaders and local party workers of their region, long persisting Left Wing Extremism issue were attributed as reasons for the party’s diminishing popularity among tribal leaders, he said.
In the 2003 Assembly polls, 34 seats in the 90-member House were reserved for the ST category. The BJP had registered a whopping victory defeating the then Ajit Jogi-led Congress government, winning 50 seats including the 25 ST-reserved seats. The Congress then won 9 ST-reserved seats.
In the 2008 Assembly elections, the BJP again formed the government, winning
50 seats with the blessings of tribals as it bagged 19 out of the 29 ST-reserved seats, while the Congress won 10 ST-reserved seats.