Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the state government will form separate welfare boards of the major sub-castes of the Scheduled Castes with their chairmen having the status of a minister.
The chief minister was addressing a grand rally of Dalits organised by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar in Gwalior. The move has been seen as the BJP’s attempt to woo the Dalit votes ahead of the state elections slated to be held later this year.
“The boards like Kori Welfare Board, Jatav Welfare Board and others will be formed for the welfare of subcastes. The chairman of these boards will be given the status of a minister,” Chouhan said.
The CM also announced that manual scavenging will not take place in Madhya Pradesh. “Manhole and sewerage system will be cleaned with the help of machines. We will provide subsidy on purchase of machines so that youth of the community can start their business,” he said.
“Babasaheb Ambedkar, who wrote Constitution, was defeated by the Congress in the elections. Modi ji and we are running the government according to Constitution made by Babasaheb,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Babasaheb Ambedkar, who wrote Constitution, was defeated by the Congress in the elections. Modi ji and we are running the government according to Constitution made by Babasaheb,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on the occasion, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Being a Maratha, I am proud to bow my head before Babasaheb. There is a reason behind this. Baba Saheb was born in Mahar society.
Chhatrapati Shivaji had a dream of Hindu Swaraj. The bravest generals in his army belonged to the Mahar community. The Scindia family has formed another relationship with Babasaheb. My wife’s family and her forefather Sayajirao Gaekwad Maharaj had sent Babasaheb to study abroad. Baba Saheb Ambedkar is the saint-mahatma of the whole of India.”
According to a BJP leader aware of the development, the party aims to woo disenchanted Dalit through this rally in north Madhya’s Pradesh Chambal and Gwalior divisions, where the BJP won only seven seats, Congress 26 seats and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) one seat in the 2018 assembly election.
“After caste tension in April 2017 in Gwalior and Chambal, where six Dalits were killed, the scheduled caste voters decided to boycott the ruling BJP party,” another BJP leader said. Dalits constitute about 22% of the voters here.
After this Mahakumbh, a BJP leader said camps will also be organised at every booth to spread the BJP’s message of ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’ before the assembly polls.
With the traditional voters of the BSP decreasing in recent polls, the Congress and an alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP), National Gondwana Party and Azad Samaj Party, a political wing of the Bhim Army, are also attempting to woo SC voters. The Congress and the SP organsied several programmes on the Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. On February 3, Congress state president and former chief minister Kamal Nath had held a massive rally in Gwalior to mark Guru Ravidas Jayanti, a Dalit guru and a social reformer of Bhakti movement.
In Madhya Pradesh, there are 47 reserved seats for Scheduled Tribe and 35 for SC. In 2018, the BJP won 17 SC reserved seats, 11 seats lesser than 2013.
“We can understand why the BJP is organising Mahkumbh in Gwalior not in Ambedkar Nagar in Indore. The area has about 22% scheduled caste voters and they want to woo them,” said Sunil Astay, head of the Azad Samaj Party. Ambedkar Nagar (earlier Mhow) is the birthplace of Baba Saheb Ambedkar.
Political expert Girija Shankar said that all parties are attempting to woo Dalits before elections. “Dalits in MP cast their votes on ultra local issues, so nobody is going to win this race with events,” he said.
Another expert Jitendra Bisariya agreed and said, “The Bhim Army is trying to fill the vacuum created due to dip in popularity of the BSP, but its influence is limited to the younger generation. Elders still have trust in their Behanji (Mayawati).”