CPI cashing in on Naxal-Salwa Judum conflict

In the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, where the Government-supported Salwa Judum is engaged in a serious turf war with the Naxalites...

In the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, where the Government-supported Salwa Judum is engaged in a serious turf war with the Naxalites, the CPI is slowly making inroads into the hinterland. With the Assembly polls less than a year away, the party has begun mobilising people against the proposed Tata steel plant at Lohandiguda and the Essar steel plant at Bhansi.

In fact, senior leaders of both the BJP and Congress were taken aback as a 75,000-strong crowd attended an anti-Salwa Judum rally at Jagdalpur, organised by the CPI in the first week of November.

The rally was a show of strength by the Communists, who want a better land deal for the people in the area where mega industrial units are coming up. Senior CPI leader Chittaranjan Bakshi said that unless the tribals are given their due, it would adversely affect their culture and livelihood. In fact, villagers are now opposing the land acquisition process for the 5,000-acre Tata Steel plant.

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Villagers led by former CPI legislator from south Bastar, Manish Kunjam, have prepared a 13-point charter of demands, including free education, hospitals and burial grounds for the local populace. Besides, they want the project to be a public-private enterprise, with 49 per cent government equity.

Political sources said that conflicts over land have emboldened the CPI to assert itself in the tribal areas. The party has also stated that it was confident of winning two Assembly seats in the south Bastar region. “Since the days of undivided Madhya Pradesh, the CPI has been routinely representing the area, with party leaders Mahendra Karma, Barsadula Ram and Manish Kunjam being elected to the Assembly,” Bakshi stated.

“The CPI is opposed to Salwa Judum as we feel that the Government is pitting the tribals against extremists. And we are opposed to displacement of farmers without an adequate rehabilitation package,” said Kunjam.

At the time of formation of Chhattisgarh, the Congress held sway in most of the seats in the tribal region. This, however, changed in the 2003 Assembly polls when the BJP wrested all but three seats — Konta, Dantewada and Bijapur — from the Congress. There are 12 Assembly segments in the Bastar region.

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Senior leaders of both the BJP and the Congress are a worried lot as they feel that the CPI would be able to make some inroads into the area.