An ex-labourer ‘inspired by Barack Obama’, Kamleshwar Dodiyar is MP’s sole non-BJP, non-Congress MLA

Dodiyar, 33, wins on a ticket of the tribal Bharat Adivasi Party, after two poll losses; says wants to work for tribal families worse off than him

Kamleshwar Dodiyar contested on the ticket of the newly floated Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP).

After his election from the Sailana seat in Ratlam district, Kamleshwar Dodiyar embarked on Wednesday on a 300-km journey on his 100 cc motorbike bearing an MLA sticker on it, from his constituency in Ratlam. On reaching the state capital Bhopal, the new Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s sole MLA from neither the BJP nor the Congress bowed down before the Secretariat building, before venturing inside to file his documents.

It has been a long journey in ways more than one for the 33-year-old Dodiyar, who once worked as a labourer and tiffin delivery man to fund his education. He contested on the ticket of the newly floated Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) — a breakaway tribal outfit that also picked up 3 seats in Rajasthan, where it is based — defeating his nearest rival, the Congress’s incumbent Harsh Vijay Gehlot, by 4,618 votes on the SC-reserved Sailana seat. It was a surprise win, unaided by much funds, organisational strength or even a strong social media presence.

All he had, Dodiyar says, was his bike and the support of 2,000 workers.

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Dodiyar belongs to the tribal-dominated Radha Kua village, where his family still lives in a mud-brick home. His father sold eggs and his mother worked as a farm labourer, and his five elder brothers also work as farm labourers. Dodiyar also took up work as a labourer to fund his own education, and after graduation, moved to Delhi to pursue LLB, funding it by delivering tiffins.

When he returned home after finishing his course, Dodiyar got involved in social work. According to him, it was the story of former US President Barack Obama that inspired him to join politics. “He had roots in Kenya and he was looked after by his mother. He worked hard and became the US President. In Obama, I saw reflections of my own struggle.”

He contested his first election in 2018, also from Sailana Assembly seat, as an Independent. He lost, and tried his luck again in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ratlam, when he was again defeated. “However, I earned a loyal group of followers. This time I had 2,000 workers who paid for my campaign. I did not have a single penny and had to depend on them for my travel,” Dodiyar says.

This year, Dodiyar decided to contest as a candidate of the Rajasthan-based BAP, which fielded nine candidates in the MP Assembly polls. His demands included a ‘Bhil Pradesh’ encompassing tribals from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. “Apart from this, I also raised local issues, such as poor quality of roads, and irregular supply of power and water. There is no education or medical infrastructure in tribal villages,” he says.

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On his goals as an MLA over the next five years, Dodiyar says: “When the results were announced on December 3, all my family members were at work. So you can imagine the financial condition of my family. But, in my constituency, there are tribals whose economic condition is even worse off. I’ll work for them over the next five years, and also try to make the Bharat Adivasi Party viable across all 47 tribal seats in the state.”

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