Both Congress, BJP woo SCs and tribals hard ahead of Madhya Pradesh polls: Whom will the communities favour?
As the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls come closer, campaigning by political parties is gaining momentum. All the major leaders — from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to the Congress’ Jyotiraditya Scindia — have been touring the state.
The Congress this time seems to be putting up a united front, with senior politicians like Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, et al apparently working together. It is a popular saying in Madhya Pradesh that the “Congress defeats Congress. No one else can defeat the party in the state”. If the Congress does manage to put aside its internal differences this time round and work like a cohesive team, it stands a good chance to defeat the BJP.
Party president Rahul Gandhi had already lent his weight to the poll campaign, travelling to different parts of the state, addressing rallies, and meeting grassroot workers of the party. He is raising issues that matter to the people of the state. One political activist from Rewa recently said to me: “This time, Rahul ji is looking like a grassroot leader.”
From the BJP, while PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah have visited the state many times in the recent years, they are yet to enter the formal Assembly election campaign arena.
CM Chouhan, however, has been leading from the front, constantly organising caste rallies and other events to advertise the work done by his government.
The Opposition, meanwhile, has been targeting him over farmers’ unrest, “growing underdevelopment” of the state in his tenure, and issues related to tribals and other marginalised groups.
It is interesting to mention here that tribals and SCs together form the largest social group in the state.
Schedule Tribes constitute 21.1 per cent of the total population of the state, while Scheduled Castes make up 15.2 %. But despite this sizeable presence, the two social groups have not had a major impact on the politics of Madhya Pradesh.
While the groups do get some representation in both the Congress and the BJP, they are not in a position to claim the highest positions either in the government or in the internal organisation of the two national parties.
While various tribal groups did try to form their own political parties, they failed to emerge as significant players.
Among the SCs, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) enjoys popularity in some parts of the state. But the community’s voteshare is fragmented, with both the Congress and the BJP claiming a share.
The same phenomenon can be observed among the tribals too, who are divided between the two national parties.
If the two groups come together as a cohesive electoral block, they can change the political map of Madhya Pradesh.
Both the Congress and the BJP realise the importance of this voter block, and are making attempts to woo the communities.
In this direction, political analysts see the possibility of an alliance between the Congress and the BSP, to consolidate SC votes.
The two national parties are also trying to groom their own tribal leaders, who are working hard to mobilise the support of the community in favor of their parties.
The SC-ST vote will play a crucial role in the upcoming Assembly polls, and may even prove to be the deciding factor. However, whether or not their electoral importance translates into the communities getting their fair share in political representation and in the state’s growth story, remains to be seen.