The major issues of Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh were connected to agricultural distress and water crisis. However, the monthly stipend of Rs 1,250 actually mattered to them, says a local journalist.
A few days prior to the Madhya Pradesh elections, while giving an interview to a national media, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the women of the state would not disappoint their ‘Mama’. As the early trends of the election show, the BJP is currently in a comfortable situation.
Amidst high anti-incumbency against Chouhan, what were the factors that worked in favour of the party? Though it is too early to comment, the votes of Adivasis have seemingly played a formidable role behind it. In the Adivasi-dominated Malwa Nimar region, Congress in 2018 won 22 out of 28 seats. However, so far, their performance seems to be poorer than in the past.
During the field visit, several people told Outlook that Ladli Behena Yojana could pull the voters in this region toward BJP. The major issues of Adivasis though were connected to agricultural distress and water crisis, the monthly stipend of Rs. 1,250 actually mattered to them, says a local journalist. Another women-centric scheme, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, seemed to work in their favour.
“The Ladli Behena Yojana has become PMAY for BJP in 2023. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the state favoured BJP for getting Makaan, this time, they found this monthly stipend worthy enough to vote for them,” says Virendra Singh Rathore, a senior journalist from Malwa Nimar region.
However, other factors, like the internal power struggle in Congress in the Adivasi capital of the state Jhabua, also probably created a dent in the Congress bastion. In the 2020 by-poll election, Adivasi Congress leader Kantilal Bhuriya, now the chief of their campaign in the state snatched Jhabua's seat from BJP. However, this time, the party fielded his son Vikrant Bhuriya. The internal party sources said that the ground workers were not very happy with the decision as they did not want the Bhuriya family to dominate the party for the “next 25 years”.
Bhanu Bhuriya, who is currently leading from Jhabua, told Outlook that the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Jal Jeevan Mission and Ladli Behena Yojana would again make Chouhan the Chief Minister.
In Madhya Pradesh, 47 seats are reserved for tribals and as political analyst Yatindra Singh Sisodia earlier said whoever wins these seats would actually win the state.
Notably, Rathore adds that the Modi factor and Ram Mandir also worked among Adivasis. “In Jhabua region, the matter of conversion is big, and BJP has capitalized on it,” he adds.
Earlier, Outlook reported that for the last two decades, RSS has worked in this region, and it certainly worked on the ground, think local journalists.