Politics heats up in Chhattisgarh as seat lost by BJP narrowly at heart of tribal violence

While the BJP claims the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government has turned a blind eye to “a conversion drive” to Christianity in the state, the Congress counters that most of these took place when the BJP government was in power for 15 years, till it lost in 2018.

Amit Jogi, the president of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi (JCC-J) and the son of the late Ajit Jogi (the first chief minister of the state, who was a tribal Christian), says the violence should not come as a surprise. “In the entire tenure of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP has never taken a beating as they did in Chhattisgarh (winning just 14 seats to the Congress’s 71),” he says, underlining the importance of winning back the state for the BJP. “Like they target Muslims in other states, here they are targeting Christians.”

Since 2018, the BJP has failed to recover lost ground in Chhattisgarh. Kedar Kashyap, then the sitting minister for education and tribal welfare, lost from Narayanpur, a tribal reserved seat, to Chandan Kashyap of the Congress after having defeated him in 2013 by more than 12,000 votes.

Among those who has been arrested for the Narayanpur violence is BJP district chief Rupsai Salam, who was accused of organising the gathering of around 2,000 tribals on January 2 that turned violent and led to the attack on a church.

The Gondhwana Samaj Samanvay Samiti, a registered organisation representing the majority Gondi tribe in the district, distanced itself from the violence. Its president Kanderam Mandavi told The Indian Express that politics was being played and tribals were being divided by parties.

On January 3, BJP MLAs created a ruckus in the Assembly blaming the Congress government for the Narayanpur violence, saying it was a fallout of the authorities ignoring “conversions in the district by Christian missionaries, as well as “attacks by those leaning towards Christianity” on majority tribal groups.

CM Baghel, in turn, announced that he could provide records to show that the majority of conversions had taken place and churches built while the BJP was in power from 2003 to 2018.

Lamenting what is happening, Mandavi said they were just tribals, “neither Hindus nor Christians”. “The politicians are dividing us on religious lines. It has been our demand for a long time that we should be identified as belonging to the Gond religion and given a different code in the Census. Tribals don’t want violence, we can solve our issues through dialogue… (including) with our brothers leaning towards Christianity.”

Kedar Kashyap, also the general secretary of the BJP in Chhattisgarh, denied that the party was making it a political issue. “Conversions in Narayanpur are a social issue, we will deal with the same socially,” he told The Indian Express, adding: “I will defeat the Congress (from Narayanpur) on issues of health, education and development.”

Congress Narayanpur MLA Chandan Kashyap lists his achievements in return. “I lost in 2013 to Kedar only because I got the ticket less than a month before the elections. I have made four tehsils (since 2018), which the BJP could not do in 15 years. They have no issue left and this violence is a last resort to polarise voters in the district,” Chandan says, adding that the BJP will not succeed.

Christian leaders in Chhattisgarh say they fear that the “harassment” of tribals who have converted might spread to all the seven districts of Bastar – Narayanpur, Bastar, Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Kondagaon and Kanker.

Arun Pannalal, the president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, says: “Politics is being played from day one, otherwise there is no issue.” Hinting at a BJP hand, he adds: “For 15 years, there were few instances of communal politics, and then, in the last four years, attacks on Christians picked up. Right-wing groups like the Bajrang Dal backed by the BJP are fomenting trouble in entire Bastar.”

Just two months ago, in November, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat personally came to Jashpur to unveil a statue of the late Dilip Singh Judeo, a former Union minister and BJP leader known for his “Ghar Wapsi campaign” — in other words, “re-conversion” of indigenous people to Hinduism. He would wash the feet of those who had converted to Christianity, as part of the “re-entry”, at highly publicised events.

Judeo’s son Prabal Pratap Singh, the BJP Chhattisgarh state secretary, describes himself as “Akhil Bharatiya Ghar Wapsi pramukh”. He could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Pannalal says: “What they (Judeo’s campaign) do, amounts to hate mongering and hate speech.”

Amit Jogi, whose JCC-J has four MLAs, agrees, adding that the BJP has no issues to raise, after “15 years of misgovernance caused people to lose faith in their leaders”. “Hence, they are using a two-pronged strategy. They are replacing all their old leaders with new faces and playing the communal card… I am sure the Ghar Wapsi campaign will intensify as elections near.”

What Pannalal and Jogi also agree on is that the Congress government — “while ideologically a secular party” — has done little to check the BJP.

The Congress says it has taken the strictest action. Congress media cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla says the administration has been empowered to use the stringent National Security Act (NSA) to maintain harmony. Accusing the BJP of fomenting trouble, Shukla adds: “It was from 2004 to 2018 that 98% of the churches in Bastar region came up, when the BJP was in power. Before that, there were only two churches. Now that they are in the Opposition, they are creating riots over the issue. If the BJP is serious about conversions, let the Central government run by it make an anti-conversion law.”