Jharkhand ahead, RSS chalks year-long, nationwide celebration of tribal icon Rani Durgawati

The celebrations, which will be followed by grand observance of ‘Janjaatiya Gaurav Diwas (Tribal Drive Day)’ on November 15 by the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, are coming ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly elections where the tribal vote is crucial to a win.

Earlier, the BJP declared 2025 as the Janjaatiya Gaurav Varsh to mark the 150th birth anniversary of tribal leader and Jharkhand icon Birsa Munda, and announced the PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan) scheme for the welfare of tribal communities from Khunti in the state in November last year. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved another scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan, with a budget of Rs 79,156 crore, “to improve the socio-economic conditions of tribal communities across the country”. The programme, which aims to provide government benefits to five crore tribal families in 63,000 tribal-majority villages, is based on “the learnings and successes of PM-JANMAN”, the government statement said.

The BJP’s tribal push comes at a time when the ST vote is seen as estranged from it in Jharkhand due to Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s arrest – some of which may be countered by the recent defection of JMM tribal leader Champai Soren to the BJP.

The Lok Sabha elections also showed the Dalits and tribals as a whole drifting away from the BJP, with the Opposition campaign seeking a caste census and warning people that a big-majority BJP government might change the Constitution striking a chord.

At the annual meeting of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Samalkha in Haryana on September 21, where the detailed plan for Rani Durgawati’s 500th anniversary celebrations will be chalked out, the RSS will showcase prayer rituals of tribal groups from across the country and draw “similarities” with the larger practices of the Hindu faith. The Sangh’s consistent stand is that tribals are not a separate group but a part of the ancient Hindu belief system.

Pramod Pethkar, publicity in-charge of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, said: “Rani Durgawati had a multi-faceted personality. She was a Rajput married to a tribal Gond. She protected her people from the attacks of invaders… defeated Muslims thrice… She expanded the Gond kingdom, was associated with several programmes of public welfare, including water conservation and creating a robust criminal justice system.”

Pethkar added: “At a time when there is an atmosphere of instability in society, it is important we remember Rani Durgawati.”

The tribal icon’s celebrations should not be linked to the BJP, a senior Sangh leader said. “We have always celebrated Rani Durgawati’s birth anniversary. This year the celebrations are bigger since it is the 500^th anniversary. She is a source of inspiration for all and not just tribals.”

Detailing the celebrations, RSS sources said these will be conducted through the 21,917 projects run at 16,413 places across the country by the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in fields such as education, women welfare and rural development.

Durgawati was born on October 5, 1524, in the family of the Chandela Rajput king Shalbaham, who ruled the Mahoba kingdom. She married King Dalpat Shah, the son of King Sangram Shah of Gondwana (present-day Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh). She served as regent of Gondwana during the minority of her son, Vir Narayan, from 1550 until 1564.

She is chiefly remembered for defending Gondwana against the Mughal Empire. The powerful Mughal Emperor Akbar sent his forces led by Asaf Khan I to capture Garha in 1564. The queen put up a fierce resistance in the Battle of Narrai despite being heavily outnumbered and was eventually killed.

Celebrated as a war heroine, she is now revered across the Gondwana region by the Gonds.