Amit Shah says the Congress gave the tribals of Gujarat kukada-bakra (hen and goats), but the BJP is giving them cows and buffaloes for dairy development.
Tribal communities in Gujarat have traditionally been the victims of vikas, losing their land and natural resources. But, the BJP has made considerable political headway in the past two decades among them, through a heady combination of Hindutva and development.
Most of the major irrigation dams are located in their lands, but less than five per cent of land in tribal areas gets irrigation. Though infrastructure related to a market economy has improved over years, many of them are yet to get uninterrupted electricity, all-weather roads, public transport, potable drinking water, health care and so on. Of the state’s total malnourished children (44 per cent), tribals constitute the largest proportion.
The Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) constitute 15 per cent of the population of Gujarat, having 27 reserved seats in the 182-member state assembly. They are largely concentrated in blocks/taluks in the hilly terrain of the eastern part of the state.
In the 1950s, a sizeable section considered the government of India as alien. At times, they have even demanded a separate state. Recently, a similar demand for Bhilistan has been revived. During this election, Chhotubhai Vasava, a former leader of the undivided JD(U), has formed the Bharatiya Tribal Party, which has a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress.
For years, the Congress enjoyed the tribals’ support in elections because of the network of Gandhians engaged in the field of education and a so-called ‘social reform’ mission to civilise them. However, in this mission, there was no adversary or ‘other’ to hate.
The Hindutva forces entered the area from the 1960s, with education and socio-cultural reform on the agenda, and gradually expanded their base with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. To inculcate their ideology, Vidya Bharati publishes literature and runs more than 340 schools in the state.
During my fieldwork in the sixties and seventies, tribals of different communities used to identify themselves as Gamits, Bhils, Chaudharys etc. Now they identify themselves as Hindu Gamit, Hindu Bhil, Hindu Chaudhary etc. Neither the Congress nor Sarvodaya Gandhians could prevent tribal transformation from Hinduisation to Hindutva.
The Congress’s support base began to shake since the mid-1980s, as dissatisfaction with its rule mounted, coupled with the marginalisation of pro-tribal leaders within the party. For the first time in 1990, BJP won six out of 26 state assembly seats reserved for STs. The Congress secured seven. A majority of the seats went to independent candidates and minor political groups. The number of such outfits have increased over time. Ideologically, they vary from ‘back to nature’ indigenous tribal culture to Naxalism.
The BJP had successfully fractured vote banks of anti-Congress outfits in the 1995 elections. Since then, its strength fluctuates from election to election. The Hindutva forces skilfully mobilised tribals in 2002, and soon after, the BJP captured a majority of ST seats. But once emotions receded, it could not sustain its hold.
Modi realised that mere mobilisation around Hindutva would not help beyond a point. Hence, the mission of Hinduisation through the construction of temples as pilgrimage/tourist places was incorporated into a ‘development’ agenda.
Later, Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY), with a total budget allocation of Rs 150 billion for a period of 2007-12, was launched to improve their livelihood. There was nothing new in the approach and method of implementation than the earlier tribal development programmes. As in the past, these programmes lacked integration, as well as forward and backward linkages.
To absorb young tribals in the market economy, the Gujarat government opened Industrial Training Institutes to provide short-term skill development. For school educated youth, 30 new Kaushalya Vardhan Kendra (skill development centres) to impart professional skills were created in tribal areas before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Modi launched the ‘the first of its kind’ Kaushalya Raths to train youth, and geared up his administration by appointing his trusted bureaucrats as prabharis (monitors) for each of the tribal districts. Simultaneously, the implementation of the Forest Rights Act was expedited. In October 2013, the Chief Minister distributed letters of their rights to 15,000 tribal farmers in a public function.
All these efforts did help the BJP improve its vote share among tribals in the 2014 elections. It won a majority in most of the ST assembly segments in the 2014Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP extensively mobilised non-tribal voters in the ST reserved segments, with a maximum voting turn out. At the same time, disenchantment with political parties was reflected in a preference for NOTA in five numerically tribal-dominated districts.
But the initial hype around VKY has faded away. The vocational training programme given a target to provide training to 44,345 youth, but could reach only 35 per cent of the target by 2015.
All those who learnt these skills are unable to get jobs near their place of residence. Dissatisfaction with these and other issues was reflected in the local government elections in 2015. The Congress won a majority of the taluka panchayats in the tribal region.
Following the defeat, the BJP government announced the formation of a tribal university and two medical colleges in the tribal belt. This was to address the aspirations of middle-class tribals. Amit Shah says the Congress gave the tribals kukada-bakra (hens and goats), but the BJP is giving them cows and buffaloes for dairy development.
The Congress, on the other hand, raises the question ‘where is Vikas?’, but does not provide an alternative, nor does it take credit for the UPA’s project of Eklavya model schools.
It is certain that tribals would not be emotionally worked up by the slogan of Gujarat pride. However, what is not clear is whether the cocktail of Hindutva and vikas would appeal to the middle-class tribals enough for them to desert the Congress and Bharatiya Tribal Party.
Ghanshyam Shah is former national fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research
All the political parties use the communal cards in each and every elections.Our left-liberal intellectual by their selective criticism of only BJP have completely lost their influence over society.