Modi has takers among tribals
The tribal constituencies of Dabhoi, Sankheda, Pavi Jetpur, Naswadi and Chota Udaipur were originally with the Congress but wrested by the BJP in the wake of the communal polarization affected by the 2002 riots.
By Aarthi Ramachandran, TNN |
VADODARA: Voters look still undecided in Vadodara district’s tribal dominated seats. The tribal constituencies of Dabhoi, Sankheda, Pavi Jetpur, Naswadi and Chota Udaipur —out of the 13 seats in Vadodara district — were originally with the Congress but wrested by the BJP in the wake of the communal polarization affected by the 2002 riots.
The 2004 Parliament elections changed the story with the Congress winning the Chota Udaipur parliamentary seat which encompasses most of the tribal assembly constituencies here.
But there is one new factor in these Tribal swathes which used to vote as a block for ‘Indira ka panja’ or the Congress. Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have left an imprint on people’s minds here. This could play an important role according to villagers in the Sankheda constituency as they believe tribal voters vote for the person they “recognize”.
The BJP didn’t have‘face’ tribal voters recognized earlier, but Mr Modi has gained in popularity here and that popularity has not dissipated with the decline of communal tensions which essentially fuelled the party’s 2002 victory in these areas.
But Tribals themselves are unwilling to spell out whom they will support for the moment. In Bhatpur village in Sankheda, Ramdas from the Tribal village of Kanhakua nearby, works as farm hand. Asked who is going to win, he replies that in all villages there are two sides – one for the Congress and the other for the BJP— and says the vote will be decided at the final moment. Ramdas, however, acknowledges that Modi had got them ‘pucca’ houses and constructed toilets.
In Kanhakua, the story chances slightly when one hears that wage earners (some of them own 2-5 bhigas of land) earn Rs 25 day and don’t have the money to cough up Rs 300 that is being demanded of them by the local leaders for building each toilet. But Ramsarika, a tailor here who also works as farm hand, says Mr Modi has done more for them than the Congress could do ever.
He blames the Central government for the falling cotton prices and says Sonia Gandhi should do something about it. Another resident talks of how the villagers have to run to the primary health center 8 Kms away in Bodeli because dispensary in Sankheda, which 4 Kms away, will not accept them.
In Wasna Vasahat, which is colony of Narmada dam evacuees, there is no road in the village. One of the many ‘Vasahat’ colonies here of people who have come across the border from Madhya Pradesh, the people complain there is no development in Adivasi villages of the ‘Purva Patti’ or the eastern frontier of the state. “Nobody (in politics) keeps their promises. But we vote whomever we feel like voting,” says Jagdish Bhai, resident of nearby Aretha village, a BJP worker who has shifted sides this election.
The BJP has changed its candidates in most of the tribal constituencies in Vadodara to reverse the losses of the 2004 Parliament elections. Whether that will happen is not certain given that this was a Congress bastion for decades.
The 2004 Parliament elections changed the story with the Congress winning the Chota Udaipur parliamentary seat which encompasses most of the tribal assembly constituencies here.
But there is one new factor in these Tribal swathes which used to vote as a block for ‘Indira ka panja’ or the Congress. Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have left an imprint on people’s minds here. This could play an important role according to villagers in the Sankheda constituency as they believe tribal voters vote for the person they “recognize”.
The BJP didn’t have‘face’ tribal voters recognized earlier, but Mr Modi has gained in popularity here and that popularity has not dissipated with the decline of communal tensions which essentially fuelled the party’s 2002 victory in these areas.
But Tribals themselves are unwilling to spell out whom they will support for the moment. In Bhatpur village in Sankheda, Ramdas from the Tribal village of Kanhakua nearby, works as farm hand. Asked who is going to win, he replies that in all villages there are two sides – one for the Congress and the other for the BJP— and says the vote will be decided at the final moment. Ramdas, however, acknowledges that Modi had got them ‘pucca’ houses and constructed toilets.
In Kanhakua, the story chances slightly when one hears that wage earners (some of them own 2-5 bhigas of land) earn Rs 25 day and don’t have the money to cough up Rs 300 that is being demanded of them by the local leaders for building each toilet. But Ramsarika, a tailor here who also works as farm hand, says Mr Modi has done more for them than the Congress could do ever.
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He blames the Central government for the falling cotton prices and says Sonia Gandhi should do something about it. Another resident talks of how the villagers have to run to the primary health center 8 Kms away in Bodeli because dispensary in Sankheda, which 4 Kms away, will not accept them.
In Wasna Vasahat, which is colony of Narmada dam evacuees, there is no road in the village. One of the many ‘Vasahat’ colonies here of people who have come across the border from Madhya Pradesh, the people complain there is no development in Adivasi villages of the ‘Purva Patti’ or the eastern frontier of the state. “Nobody (in politics) keeps their promises. But we vote whomever we feel like voting,” says Jagdish Bhai, resident of nearby Aretha village, a BJP worker who has shifted sides this election.
The BJP has changed its candidates in most of the tribal constituencies in Vadodara to reverse the losses of the 2004 Parliament elections. Whether that will happen is not certain given that this was a Congress bastion for decades.
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