Madhya Pradesh Chief MInister Shivraj Singh Chouhan . File.
| Photograph Credit score: A.M. FARUQUI
The race for Dalit votes within the Madhya Pradesh Meeting polls, scheduled later this yr, has picked up warmth, particularly with the BJP and the Congress making their bids to woo the 17% vote financial institution round Ravidas Jayanti celebrations this yr.
At a Saint Ravidas Mahakumbh, an occasion celebrating the life and works of the Bhakti Motion saint, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday introduced {that a} grand temple devoted to the fifteenth century poet Ravidas can be constructed at a price of ₹100 crore in Sagar district.
The announcement comes days after he flagged off his authorities’s ‘Vikas Yatra’ or “development tours” — a mass join programme the place Ministers take improvement programmes to the folks — on the event of Saint Ravidas’ beginning anniversary (February 5) from Bhind.
Not solely the date but in addition the selection of the Gwalior-Chambal area had its personal significance. The anger of the Dalits who’re influential in most of the 34 seats within the area was seen as an important issue behind the BJP’s poor present within the 2018 Meeting polls.
On each the events, the Chief Minister made a slew of different bulletins focused on the Dalit neighborhood as effectively. At Wednesday’s occasion in Sagar, Mr. Chouhan introduced that the earnings restrict for scholarship to Scheduled Caste kids can be elevated from ₹6 lakh to ₹8 lakh and that 20% of the plots in industrial areas can be reserved for entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Particular pilgrimage prepare
Hailing Saint Ravidas as somebody who believed in social equality and welfare of all, Mr. Chouhan stated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he have been working governments in keeping with the rules of Saint Ravidas. On the event, he additionally introduced {that a} particular pilgrimage prepare can be launched to take the saint’s disciples to his birthplace, Varanasi.
Whereas Mr. Chouhan additionally listed the advantages of State and Central schemes for the Dalit neighborhood, State Congress president and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who attended the Ravidas Jayanti celebrations in Gwalior, tried to attract similarities between Saint Ravidas’ preaching and the broader themes of his not too long ago concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra, reminiscent of range and social cohesion.
“… Great saints like Saint Ravidas who were born in this country laid the foundation of our country’s culture. He had laid the foundation to keep the society united, to keep every religion united, which is the culture of our country and this is the culture of our Congress, which our great sages not only adopted, but also took it to different places,” he stated.
Dalits comprise 17% of the State’s voting inhabitants and are influential in lots of constituencies, even past the 35 seats reserved for them within the 230-member Meeting. Each events know that a greater efficiency in these seats can maintain key to energy in what guarantees to be a intently contested Meeting polls later this yr. In earlier polls, the Bahujan Samaj Social gathering has additionally had sway in a few of these seats in areas neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, however with the social gathering’s fortunes on the decline on its dwelling turf, the carry over impact in Madhya Pradesh is anticipated to be restricted, if not fully diminished.
Tough query
For each events, extra so for the ruling BJP, which has additionally tried to make inroads into the tribal vote financial institution with comparable bulletins and celebrating neighborhood icons, caste balancing stays a difficult query. Whereas the higher caste leaders have began saying that they really feel sidelined as a result of a renewed outreach, OBCs have additionally emerged as a stress group of their very own.
Bhopal-based political commentator Prabhu Pateria says whereas within the 2018 elections, a Supreme Courtroom ruling on the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, had triggered the Dalit voters, that led to the then ruling social gathering BJP struggling in Gwalior-Chambal and Bundelkhand area, points nonetheless linger on within the type of resentment over lacking out on reservations in jobs and promotions. “The government feels that implementing the PESA for the tribals or building a grand temple for Saint Ravidas are initiatives that will make a certain social impact. As for the Congress, it saw a lot of BSP voters switching to it in 2018, but they will need to either make major promises in their Vachan Patras or contest the government’s claims on SC/ST welfare aggressively in the public,” says Mr. Pateria.
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