Ex-AIIMS doctor Hiralal Alawa heads JAYS, a tribal outfit, while Trivedi heads SAPAKS, which was behind Thursday’s Bharat bandh.
New Delhi: Two political outfits, representing diverse ends of the ideological spectrum, are giving mainstream parties a headache in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
The rise of the Samanya Pichhda Alpsankhayak Kalyan Samaj (SAPAKS) — the outfit at the forefront of Thursday’s upper caste and OBC protests against the Centre’s amendments to the SC/ST Act — and the Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), which has made considerable headway among the state’s tribals, have set alarm bells ringing in both the Congress and the BJP.
Of the two outfits, JAYS, led by a former AIIMS doctor, Hiralal Alawa, 35, is already a registered political outfit and has begun making its presence felt at the grassroots level, particularly in MP’s tribal pockets.
The party — which began as a movement for tribal rights on social media in 2012 — made mainstream parties sit up and take note in September last year when it won 162 posts in the tribal districts during the college student elections in Madhya Pradesh.
The feat was all the more remarkable as it was JAYS’ electoral debut, in which it wiped out the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhya Parishad (ABVP), the BJP’s student wing, and the National Students Union of India, the Congress’ student wing, in the tribal-dominated regions.
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The relatively newer SAPAK does not enjoy the grassroots organisation and support that the JAYS does but is making its presence felt in upper caste areas, which traditionally vote for the BJP.
The outfit, which has only just applied for political party status, became prominent following its opposition to the Parliamentary amendments to the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act that reversed the Supreme Court’s ‘dilution’ of the legislation.
A burgeoning movement
On 5 August, around 50,000 tribals gathered to celebrate Adivasi Diwas in Badnawar, Madhya Pradesh, garnering widespread media attention in the state.
“It was the culmination of nine days of celebration in different parts of Madhya Pradesh,” says Dr. Alawa, the JAYS president. “We had been registering our presence through different movements in 20 tribal districts of MP.”
Just two days earlier, Alawa had been called by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who offered him the chance to join the BJP.
“We presented a 25-point demand such as opening medical and engineering colleges in the tribal belts and improving education infrastructure. He was not very committal and asked me to join the BJP, which I refused,” says Alawa.
The politicking is a far cry from the JAYS chief’s primary profession. Alawa, himself a tribal, was a doctor at AIIMS in New Delhi before he resigned in December 2016 and returned home. The native of Dhar district, he began working with fellow tribals, offering them free medicine and treatment.
“I felt that I should work for the community that is not getting its due from any government,” he says. JAYS, Alawa says, began as a social media movement for tribal rights back in 2012.
It first hogged the limelight in 2014, when it protested against the Modi government’s proposed Land Acquisition Act, in the state’s tribal regions. Now, buoyed by the good showing in the college elections, the party has plans to contest in 80 of the 230 assembly seats in the state.
Sizeable tribal population, a worry for BJP
Tribals account for 21 per cent of Madhya Pradesh’s population and mostly reside in 20 districts of the state. They also have 47 assembly seats reserved for them.
The BJP traditionally enjoyed the tribal vote, a result of the RSS’ hard work through a number of shakhas in the region. In the 2013 elections, the BJP won 31 tribal seats, Congress won in 15, while the other seat was won by an Independent.
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Alawa now claims that things have changed drastically in the last few years.
“A number of RSS shakhas have shut as young adivasis have joined JAYS,” he says. “Their agenda is completely different; they talk about religion and ask us to worship God. We worship nature and our prime motivation is to preserve our culture and the nature around us.”
The doctor is confident of the outfit putting on a good electoral show.
“Apart from the 47 reserved seats, there are 30 to 40 seats where the tribal population is over 50,000. We will be fielding candidates in all those seats,” he says. “Our target is to win 25 seats at least so that we can play a vital role in who will be the next chief minister of the state.”
Among other things, Alawa’s demand is that the next chief minister of MP must be a tribal. “Only then will tribals get their due. Otherwise, our lands will be given to large corporates in the name of development,” he says.
On the political front, Alawa says he is open to aligning with the more established tribal party, the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), which is set to contest elections after 15 years.
“In Mahakaushal region, in the college elections, we had extended support to the GGP candidates. We can accommodate the GGP in the 80 seats in which we plan to contest,” says Alawa.
The JAYS president also says he has qualms in allying with the Congress if the party approaches him.
“After the BJP, the only other big party is the Congress. I spoke to the local Congress leaders and told them that they should give young tribal leaders a chance in these elections. But they are yet to decide on an alliance,” he adds.
The anti-reservation outfit
There was no opposition when Parliament amended the Supreme Court judgment on the SC/ST Atrocities Act, says Hiralal Trivedi, the president of SAPAK.
“All parties including the BJP and Congress supported it. Had there been one MP from our side, he or she would have objected to it,” says Trivedi, a retired IAS officer who once served as a state information commissioner. “We need our people in the system in order to fight this menace.”
SAPAKS’ entire existence has centred on the opposition to the SC/ST Act and caste-based reservations; it was the primary organisation behind Thursday’s Bharat Bandh.
The outfit was initially formed by upper caste bureaucrats who opposed reservations in promotions. It has since evolved and now claims to represent Other Backward Classes (OBCs), apart from upper castes. It has also begun receiving support from other caste-based organisations such Rajput Karni Sena, while some district-level BJP leaders in Sheopur have resigned to join SAPAKS.
“We are against both the BJP and the Congress. Around 72 per cent of the population, other than the scheduled castes, are with us as they suffer from false cases under the SC/ST Atrocities Act,” claims Trivedi.
“We all believed in Modi and entire upper caste voted for him but what has he done for us? Now if you pronounce scheduled caste by some other name, under the draconian law you can be put behind bars and won’t get bail.”
In the same breath, Trivedi claims that his organisation is not against anyone’s right, and is willing to talk to JAYS for an alliance.
“They are fighting for their own rights and we support them in their endeavour. I am willing to talk to them if the situation demands,” Trivedi says.
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Alawa, however, laughs off the suggestion. “We are completely different. They are demanding the abolition of reservation and we are for reservation. How can they even say that we both can come together? It is not going to happen.”
Unlike JAYS, SAPAKS does not have an organisational structure and is largely concentrated in certain pockets of the state. Although the outfit, which plans to contest in all 230 seats, is unlikely to make a mark in these elections, it could dent the BJP where it hurts most – its traditional upper caste vote-bank.
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist,Barnala(Punjab)
Very amazing as well as interesting !
The electoral chess game in Madhya Pradesh reflecting novel contours with new players too throwing their hats in the election ring!
It implies ringing of alarming bells for the old players !
The new players will no doubt have to pass through tough test to prove and establish their credentials.
The fact cannot be denied that any thing New at the outset appears quite attractive and glittering !
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest,Barnala (Punjab)