Anticipation has risen steadily ahead of the results of an apparently tight race between the Congress and the BJP in Rajasthan assembly polls. But away on the sidelines and below the eyeline, the steady rise of tribal identity politics in South Rajasthan, Dungarpur included, has thrown up several intrinsic challenges and questions, including a demand for a tribal state, ‘Bhil Pradesh’.
The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), formed after a split with the Gujarat-based Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BTP), has fielded its candidates for the 25 seats reserved in the state for Scheduled Tribes representatives.
During her ground coverage of the campaign, Outlook's Shreya Basak talked to Poonam Devi, a former sarpanch, Rajkumar Roat, sitting MLA from Chorasi and founding leader of BAP, and the party's Dungarpur candidate Kantilal Roat to find out the main concerns driving the region's tribals to find their own political voice.
