The much-hyped alliance between the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fallen apart ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls as the tribal party announced their decision to end the prospective coalition with Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal. Ending the ties, BTP accused AAP of "sidelining" its leader Chhotubhai Vasava and trying to "usurp the strength" of the party in the tribal areas. Incidentally, BTP's move came while Kejriwal is on a tour to Gujarat. Announcing the decision Monday, Jhagadia MLA Chhotubhai told mediapersons that the "doors have been closed" for the alliance and the party will now look for further possibilities of making alliances in the state. “The AAP leaders are not paying heed to us and our issues. They are taking BTP leaders and workers from the backdoor and making them sport the symbol of AAP in the public meetings. We have come to know that they wanted to field BTP candidates on AAP tickets against our BTP candidates in the upcoming elections. In the public meetings in the tribal areas, they are not giving us importance. This shows that they are not interested in the alliance. Ten days ago, we had sent a letter to Gujarat incharge of AAP on the issues we are facing and wanted to know the party's stand. They are yet to send any reply," Chhotubhai told The Indian Express. AAP leaders were not available to comment on the development. BTP's alliance with the AAP for the Gujarat assembly elections was declared in May. But BTP leaders said the cracks began appearing in the same month itself—at the first joint rally held in Chanderiya when Kejriwal had also visited the Vasavas' homes. BTP Vice-President Ambalal Jadav said, "In the Chanderiya rally, AAP wanted the BTP workers and tribal audience to sport the AAP sash and logos. They were not happy to have the BTP symbols on display in the background. In the Bodeli rally last month, they removed the references to BTP and only carried Chhotubhai's photo in the background. In the tribal areas, they do not want to use the name of BTP but want to exploit the support the party enjoys. We had clearly stated 14 points of tribal issues before them but they went ahead and announced six guarantees without consulting us. The original deal was to have the guarantees announced jointly in the name of Kejriwal and Chhotubhai but AAP went ahead and announced it alone. We had been tolerating this but what has really led to the breaking away was AAP declaring its list of candidates in the tribal seats." On August 7, at the public meeting in Bodeli, which was meant to be a joint rally by the AAP and BTP, Chhotubhai was conspicuous by his absence as were the symbols of BTP. It was here that Kejriwal had declared a six-point guarantee for the tribals, including the implementation of the Pachayats (Extension to Schedule Areas) Act 1996 and formation of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC). Only Mahesh Vasava was present in the rally in Bodeli. The Vasavas, who are aspiring to field BTP candidates from the 27 reserved ST seats for the state Assembly elections, decided to call off the alliance after the latest list of AAP candidates, announced two days back, also had tribal seats, including that of Nandod in Narmada. AAP has, in fact, fielded Praful Vasava—a former BTP leader from the seat. "Chhotubhai said we have had enough of their one-upmanship. They never treated the tribal leaders as equals. They have gone ahead and announced candidates from nearly seven tribal seats, including Nizar, Nandod, Khedbrahma. The pact was that BTP would contest the tribal seats in the alliance. But they wanted Chhotubhai and Mahesh Vasava to field candidates on the AAP symbol," Jadav said. Chhotubhai alleged that the BJP has sent AAP as its "B team to break the BTP control in the tribal districts of Gujarat". "They also wanted BTP to merge with AAP. We will not allow this to happen as BTP is an identity of the tribals. We also asked them to raise the issue of the manipulation in the EVM machines but they have been fobbing it off as if they do not want the BJP to be exposed.” On the plans for the upcoming elections Chhotubhai said, “We will definitely field our candidates in all the tribal seats across Gujarat and contest the elections. We will also try to make alliances with the CPI and other parties, except BJP and AAP. For Congress, we still have not decided but we will look into it. There are around 12 to 15 crore tribals and our issues are not being looked and heard. , we will continue our fight for the tribals.”
