Tribal queen is BJP’s new woman icon in MP, rivals stunned

Nearly four-and-a-half centuries later, tribal queen Rani Durgavati who preferred death to dishonour...

Nearly four-and-a-half centuries later, tribal queen Rani Durgavati who preferred death to dishonour, has been appropriated by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh on a scale that has left its opponents stunned.

The queen fought a valiant battle with the Mughals while trying to defend her Gond kingdom but killed herself when she had the option to surrender on June 24, 1564, in Baraha village near Jabalpur.

On her death anniversary two days ago, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a slew of announcements and made it clear that they will be implemented. A new all-woman battalion in the police, a cash award and a new television serial on the Gond kingdom were among the announcements.

Within hours of the announcement of the Rani Durgavati battalion, DGP Swaraj Puri sent a proposal to the state home ministry. Puri told The Indian Express on Monday that the nearly 900-strong battalion would require about Rs 25 crore.

A cash award of Rs 2 lakh will be given every year in her name while Rs 25 lakh will be spent every year on conserving her memorial and developing places associated with her.

In comparison, all that the Congress has done so far is naming the Jabalpur university after the queen. Sonia Gandhi did visit the memorial on the queen’s death anniversary but that was all. ‘‘The step is good but taken with an eye on votes,’’ Congress spokesman Manak Agarwal said.

But the hardest hit is a new party. The Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), formed three years ago on the plank of bringing back the glory of the erstwhile Gond kingdom, is speechless. ‘‘We have worked hard to create awareness about her. They just want to encash it,’’ said GGP’s Guljar Singh Markam.

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‘‘It’s all one-upmanship and a battle for votes,’’ Markam said and claimed the party’s good showing in the Assembly elections had forced the BJP to think about tribals and their heroes.

President of Amar Shahid Adivasi Mahapurush Smruti Sansthan Rahul Tekam, whose organization promotes tribal literature, folklores and heroes said, ‘‘The BJP has appropriated the queen for political reasons. The BJP faced tough fight in several constituencies in the Mahakoshal region where Gonds are strong.’’

Sobran Singh, the only Congress MLA in Jabalpur region, claimed the BJP’s ‘‘sudden love’’ for the queen had a lot to do with the truck the GGP had with Uma Bharati in the Budhni by-election. ‘‘It’s a stunt to confuse the tribal votes,’’ Singh said.

BJP MP from Mandla, Faggan Singh Kulaste, said the party was only ‘‘regularising’’ its commitments made during the NDA rule at the Centre. As a minister of state, he said, he had allocated more than Rs 1 crore in 2001-2002 to develop the place where the queen died.