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Following hectic parleys and even announcing their own candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, the Congress and Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP) finally reached a seat-sharing agreement and stitched an alliance.
Making the announcement on social media, Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said “safeguarding the Constitution and democracy was the Congress’s primary objective”.
Congress’s Arvind Damor, who had filed his nomination on April 4 barely an hour after BAP candidate Rajkumar Raot appealed to the grand old party for support in the Banswara Lok Sabha seat, is now likely to withdraw his candidature.
BAP insiders claim Raot took to social media and publicly sought the Congress’s support after realising the significant influence that the BJP holds in the area.
Congress insiders said while the state and central leadership was in favour of the alliance, local leaders in Banswara and Dungarpur were against it as they felt the rise of the BAP, which emerged victorious in three seats in the Assembly polls last year, will dent their future prospects.
“The MLAs of Banswara and Dungarpur are not in favour of the alliance as the rise of the BAP is likely to dent their vote banks. Even Damor had filed the nomination at the last moment,” a Congress leader said. Incidentally, Damor was not the Congress’s first choice for the seat. Senior leader Arjun Singh Bamaniya, who was first picked by the party, backed out saying youngsters must be given an opportunity to contest.
As a part of the seat-sharing with the Congress, the BAP will contest the Banswara and Bagidora Lok Sabha seats and is likely to withdraw its candidates from Chittorgarh and Jalore, where tribals are seen to play a significant role in the outcome of the polls.
The BAP traces its roots back to the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) floated by Chhotubhai Vasava in Gujarat in 2017. The following year, Raot and Ramprasad Dindor were elected as MLAs from Chorasi and Sagwada in Rajasthan but broke ties with the party following their victories.
The duo floated the BAP in September 2023 and in the subsequent Assembly elections later that year, the party won three seats while its candidates emerged runners-up in four more seats, sending shockwaves among the Congress and BJP.
According to the 2011 census, tribals make up almost 14% of the state’s population and are concentrated in the Vagad region of the state comprising Pratapgarh, Banswara Dungarpur and parts of Udaipur districts forming a significant chunk of voters in at least 15 Assembly constituencies.
The BAP has fielded a total of eight candidates in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, another Congress insider pointed out that internal dynamics had earlier led to the failure of talks. “If the BAP wins Banswara, it will be a bigger threat to both the BJP and Congress in the 2028 Assembly polls. Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, an influential leader who crossed over to the BJP in February 2024 and is now its candidate, has close aides in the Banswara Congress, who do not want Raot to win,” the leader said.
In a letter addressed to All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge in February, Kushalgarh MLA Ramila Khadiya and other leaders requested the party high command not to ally with the BAP in Banswara and Udaipur claiming their chances were better if they contested alone.
On the other hand, district BJP chief Harish Patidar said his party was ready for every challenge. “The BAP is a force to reckon with but our groundwork and the support of non-tribals has kept us ahead in the race (for Banswara),” he said.
