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Journalism of Courage
The tribal belt of Gujarat threw up a surprise on Thursday, giving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its mandate in 23 of the 27 Scheduled Tribes Assembly constituencies — the biggest that the party has got in the state so far. Congress’s Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathwa was defeated from Jetpur Pavi in Chhota Udepur district.
The BJP emerged as clear winner in the tribal belt, while the Congress was able to retain only three of its 17 seats — two of which were won in alliance with the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) — from 2017.
The BTP, on the other hand, has been wiped out of Gujarat with its patriarch Chhotubhai Vasava losing his bastion of Jhagadia, from where he had been MLA since 1990. His son, Mahesh Vasava, had pulled out of the race in November.
Congress sitting MLA Kanti Kharadi retained Danta seat, while Tushar Chaudhary managed to retain Khedbrahma for the party, defeating Congress turncoat Ashwin Kotwal, who was contesting as a BJP candidate after resigning in April this year.
The BJP registered its win in Bhiloda constituency with former IPS officer PC Baranda winning by a margin of 47,565 votes. The death of Congress veteran leader Anil Joshiyara in March this year had left the seat vacant. The BJP also won Nandod in Narmada where Statue of Unity is located with a margin of 28,202 votes –a constituency that had been at the focus of the BJP’s campaign for tribal development owing to the tourism circuit developed around the SoU.
In Dahod district, the Congress faced defeat in Dahod, Garbada and Jhalod tribal constituencies, and in Chhota Udepur district, the party lost its bastions of Chhota Udepur and Jetpur Pavi.
In Dang district, the BJP snatched Dang and Gandevi seats from the Congress. Sitting MLAs Anand Chaudhary (Mandvi), Punajibhai Gamit (Vyara) and Sunil Gamit (Nizar) seats faced defeats at the hands of the BJP.
The BJP also sent home seven-term MLA Chhotubhai Vasva from his bastion of Jhagadia with party candidate Ritesh Vasava winning by 23,500 votes. Chhotubhai, who is the patriarch of Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), was contesting as an independent after a fallout with son, Mahesh.
The grand win in tribal seats has reinforced the BJP’s campaign in the tribal belt from Ambaji to Umargaon, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing massive campaigns in almost all districts ahead of the polling, reiterating the BJP’s pitch for SoU as the “model for tribal development”.
The BJP’s campaign pitch had made Nandod Assembly constituency a focal point in the tribal belt. In Jambughoda on November 1, Modi said that he “felt the pulse” of the tribal people and had resolved to develop “places of tribal pride”, especially tourism to boost employment.
In several tribal seats in the state, the AAP has emerged as the key runner-up, pushing Congress down the winners’ chart.
Senior Congress leaders refused to comment on the party’s performance in the tribal belt, while BJP MP from Bharuch Mansukh Vasava said the tribal voters had “accepted the model of development” of the BJP while the party also gained from the Congress’ breaking organisational structure.
Vasava said, “The fact is that the BJP’s organisational structure is unbeatably strong. We are among the people and it has made a lot of difference. The Congress party was nowhere on the ground… Their organisational structure is broken beyond repair. It has definitely helped the BJP… Moreover, the tribals are now aware that projects like the Statue of Unity (SoU) are changing lives… They have accepted the BJP’s development model.”
