New Delhi:

TS Singh Deo, former Deputy Chief Minster of Chhattisgarh, agreed that whereas on the face of it, tribals of the state have shifted allegiance to the BJP, contributing to the Congress’s crushing defeat within the state, the advantageous print indicated one thing else. Citing vote share, he additionally contended that the Congress’s efficiency was not unhealthy, the BJP simply did higher.

Of the 26 seats in Bastar and Sarguja districts within the tribal-dominated state, the Congress gained solely 4 from Bastar and none in Sarguja. The Congress, which gained 25 ST-reserved seats within the 2018 meeting polls, managed to safe simply 11 this time.

The BJP gained 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) class — up from three. Overall, the get together has gained 54 of the state’s 90 seats, the Congress received solely 35, down from the 68 they bagged in 2018.

Asked concerning the get together’s dismal efficiency in tribal areas, Mr Deo mentioned, “there is little doubt that the tribal vote has shifted”. But he certified that assertion with a reference to the BJP’s victory margins in a number of seats.    

“One seat we lost by 14 votes, one by 100 to 200 votes, another by 94. The margins are not too much. I don’t think there has been a shift,” he advised NDTV in an unique interview. He additionally disagreed that the Prime Minister’s Rs 24,000 crore scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups had a lot to do with the shift.

The BJP, he contended, had drawn up a greater programme for ladies which has labored. “We also could not keep the sarva-adivasi samaj together. They drifted away formed a political party and contested,” he added.

Citing the 2 events’ vote share, he additionally contended that the Congress’s efficiency was not unhealthy, the BJP simply did higher.

That the tribals have been sad in Chhattisgarh for the previous few years has been clear by the quantity of protests over the worth of tendu leaves and different minor forest merchandise. Tendu leaves or the “green gold” are the most important supply of revenue for tribals, who lastly took it to the open market.

In May 2021, 4 individuals died in police firing throughout a protest in Sukma district, 46 folks had been injured, a pregnant girl died within the hospital.

The backlash got here now. As after the farmers’ loss of life in Mandsaur police firing, the farmer vote swung in direction of the Congress, the tribals turned to the BJP this time.

What additionally helped was the BJP’s grassroot marketing campaign, which penetrated Maoist-dominated areas of Bastar that outsiders feared to tread.

Then, days earlier than the election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strategical announcement, launching a Rs 24,000 crore scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups from neighbouring Jharkhand.