Amid rift in ST cause, tribals united in feeling ‘betrayed’ by BJP

A splinter group from the movement has appealed to the community to vote for the INDIA bloc and the saffron party has little time to troubleshoot


Margao: The sea-sawing decisions of the ST leaders spearheading the cause of reservations have revealed the lack of cohesion among the various tribal organisations. They threatened to boycott the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, mulled the candidature of an ‘independent’ ST candidate, and adopted a ‘neutral’ and ‘apolitical’ stand, but now a faction has declared its support to the INDIA bloc.

It initially seemed that BJP had managed to placate the ST organisations over their demand for the reservation of seats in the state legislative assembly. But the declaration of support to the INDIA bloc on Saturday by a splinter group that recently exited the ‘Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa’ has bolstered the anti-BJP sentiment in the state’s ST community.

Sources associated with the tribal movement acknowledged the irony of the situation. While the ST community is united by its feeling of being betrayed by the ruling party, the chasm among the various factions championing the tribals’ cause has only grown wider.

“Strong differences indeed exist, and it is not a healthy sign. However, the immediate singular objective of all factions is to harm BJP in the Lok Sabha polls as the underlying sentiment across all groups is that BJP has ditched the ST community,” a prominent ST leader said.

Congress promised in its manifesto that the demand for political reservation for STs would be fulfilled within six months of its coming to office. Soon thereafter, a public appeal was made by the splinter faction to the tribal community to lend its support to the INDIA bloc.

The manifesto also promises the ST community that forest rights cases will be expedited, scheduled areas will be declared, and other long-pending demands will be met. Sources pointed out that a faction of the tribal movement was in talks with Congress’s Goa in charge Manikrao Thakare, apart from the state Congress leadership, seeking the party’s commitment on political reservation.

“The decision to inflict damage on BJP was taken much earlier. We were only waiting for a commitment from Congress,” a source said. “When it finally came in the form of its manifesto, we went public with our decision.”

With the president of Mission Political Reservation, John Fernandes, openly canvassing for Congress, several other prominent leaders of the organisation are either Congress functionaries or supporters. BJP sympathisers, sources said, are largely with United Tribals Associations’ Alliance (UTAA) which has always displayed its allegiance to BJP govt.

The avowed support of the tribals to the INDIA bloc is indeed music to Congress’s ears, coming as it does a couple of days ahead of the May 7 polls.

“A large section of the ST community gravitated towards BJP after the 2011 agitation at Balli that claimed the lives of two tribal youths,” a tribal leader said. “This was also among the major factors that led to BJP forming govt after winning an absolute majority in the 2012 assembly elections. This section has since remained loyal to BJP despite govt failing to take any worthwhile steps towards political reservation.”

The leader added, “We are targeting 35% of this community. Even if we can wean away 20-25% of this section, BJP will find itself in troubled waters.”

Govind Shirodkar, an office-bearer of Mission Political Reservation, said that what hurt the community the most was govt’s volte-face on the issue.

“Our only demand was that the delimitation commission be constituted for the reservation of some Goa assembly seats for the STs before the Lok Sabha polls are held,” Shirodkar said. He was a part of the state delegation that had met Union home minister Amit Shah over the issue.

“This was an opportunity for govt to undo the injustice done to the STs of Goa. If tribes from other states who got the ST status much later than us could get political reservation, why can’t we?” Shirodkar said. “While Shah said ‘ho jayega’ and that the Union cabinet would soon approve the demand, what the cabinet later approved was ‘The Readjustment of Representation of ST Bill, 2024’ which was never our demand. This is unacceptable, as it assures us nothing. We were betrayed.”

Shirodkar added, “After 2024, there is 2027. The movement against BJP will only gain in strength from now.”

BJP is left with hardly any time to plan damage-control moves ahead of the D-day.