BJP leaders gun for ‘anti-tribal’ Raman

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh is under fire from leaders of his own party.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh is under fire from leaders of his own party. He is accused of systematically undermining and marginalising the tribal leadership in the state ever since assuming charge in 2003. The protests have gathered momentum after senior tribal leader Nanki Ram Kanwar was removed from the council of ministers.

Within days of the Cabinet reshuffle, the BJP is faced with serious infighting in the state with several senior leaders openly coming out in support of Kanwar, who was unceremoniously removed from the Cabinet on July 2. The move to drop Kanwar took party leaders by surprise as the minister was one of the senior-most leaders in the state.

Kanwar is of the opinion that he was targeted for opposing rice millers and contractors dealing in illegal forest produce. “I tried to fight corruption. But choosing the Cabinet is the prerogative of the Chief Minister,” he said.

Sources close to the senior tribal leader said he paid the price for trying to streamline the PDS system. He had confronted unscrupulous traders and rice millers who enjoy considerable clout in Chhattisgarh head on.

Senior BJP leaders said after the formation of the state in November 2000, senior tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai was made leader of the Opposition, apparently to counter the tribal leadership of then Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. Sai led a series of agitations against the Government and rejuvenated the party’s rank and file to face the December 2003 Assembly polls. However, he was forced to contest against Jogi from the Congress stronghold of Marwahi, effectively eliminating him from the race for the Chief Minister’s post.

Soon after the BJP secured a majority to form a Government, veteran tribal leader Baliram Kashyap’s name cropped up in a political controversy, involving an alleged attempt to split the BJP. The controversy was enough to sideline Kashyap, who was one among the front-runners for the Chief Minister’s post.