Bharuch, Mar 29 (PTI) Veteran tribal leader Chhotu Vasava on Friday joined Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and announced the outfit will field candidates on all tribal-dominated Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, where polling will be held in one phase on May 7.
Vasava (78) had formed the now-defunct Bharatiya Tribal Party in 2017 after leaving JD(U). Days earlier, his elder son and BTP president Mahesh Vasava joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Addressing a press conference in Jhagadia in Bharuch district, Vasava said the seats the BAP will contest will be known in the coming days.
“Under the banner of BAP, we will fight for the rights of the tribals. It is certain we will field candidates from tribal-dominated seats. The BAP’s poll agenda in Gujarat will revolve around key issues, such as implementation of Schedule 5 of the Constitution, problems faced by tribals and entry of outsiders in their areas,” he said.
The BJP and Congress have failed to address issues of tribals, he claimed.
While the BJP renominated sitting MP Mansukh Vasava from Bharuch, the Aam Aadmi Party, under a seat sharing agreement with the Congress, has fielded its MLA Chaitar Vasava.
Mansukh Vasava has been an MP since 1998 but he has not done any work for the tribals of the region, Chhotu Vasava alleged.
On Thursday, Chhotu Vasava had formed Bharat Adivasi Samvidhan Sena (BASS), which according to him will be a social and non-political outfit.
BAP was founded last year in Rajasthan where it won three assembly seats. It also won an assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh in the 2023 polls there.
Chhotu Vasava’s younger son Dilip Vasava has been active in BAP for some time and is one of the key party functionaries at the national level, said the veteran leader’s close aide Ambalal Jadav.
In the 2017 Gujarat assembly polls, BTP won from Jhagadia (Chhotu Vasava) and Dediapada (his son Mahesh Vasava).
In 2022, Chhotu Vasava fought as an independent from Jhagadia after differences with his son, but lost to BJP’s Ritesh Vasava.
His son Mahesh lost against AAP’s Chaitar Vasava from Dediapada seat in Narmada district. PTI COR PJT PD BNM
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