BSP, Gondwana Gantantra Party form alliance to contest Chhattisgarh state polls

The BSP contested in 35 seats and won two of them - Jaijaipur and Pamgarh constituencies -- while the JCC bagged five seats.

Published on: Sep 26, 2023, 13:23:12 IST

By Ritesh Mishra

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The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) will jointly contest the upcoming assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, party leaders said in a joint press conference on Monday.

Bahujan Samaj Party. (Representative photo.)

The BSP will contest in 53 seats and GGP in 37 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh state assembly, leaders of the two parties said at a joint press conference.

“(A) Majority (of) women will be given tickets from the alliance,” the leaders added.

Members of all tribal communities are welcome to join the alliance and issues connected with “Jal Jangal Zameen” (water, forest, land) will be its focus, party leaders said, adding that a tribal will be made the state’s chief minister if the alliance comes to power.

In the 2018 assembly elections, BSP had formed an alliance with Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Communist Party of India (CPI), which bagged seven seats with a total vote share of 7.6 %.

The BSP contested in 35 seats and won two of them - Jaijaipur and Pamgarh constituencies -- while the JCC bagged five seats.

The GGP had unsuccessfully contested 38 seats in 2018 with their candidates losing their election deposits in 36 seats.

Ramji Gautam, BSP’s Chhattisgarh in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP, said the alliance will fight for the rights of Dalits, tribals and poor people from all sections of the society.

“ We will win this election as Gondwana Gantantra Party represents the tribals and BSP has a huge vote bank of scheduled caste ( SC) in Chhattisgarh. The OBC community is also with us and the combination of all will work,” Gautam said.

“The BSP-GGP alliance appears to be a new thing for Chhattisgarh politics. In 2018, it was the CCJ and BSP and not GGP-BSP which had an alliance. Ideologically, this alliance is a perfect match as GGP talks about tribals while BSP claims to be a champion of the downtrodden, especially Dalits. If someone combines the SC-ST votes of Chhattisgarh, one has the winning equation. However, things are not that optimistic on ground,” said a senior Congress leader who asked not to be named.

The leader claimed that the SC voters of Chhattisgarh are concentrated in the state’s central belt around the Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur administrative zones and the state’s SC reserved seat lies in that belt and two BSP MLAs are from the region.

“The ST vote on the other hand is mostly concentrated in the north and south of the state, while also maintaining presence in the central belt. So, while BSP’s presence is limited to two-three districts and just one community, GGP is almost absent from that zone and has influence somewhere else. Hence, transfer of votes between them, even if perfect, might not create a winning equation,” said the leader.

“The GGP is not an all-ST party but primarily a Gond community-based organisation. Though Gond are the most populous in the ST community, they don’t control the tribal politics of the state, which has numerous ST communities like Kanwar, Oraon, Khairwar etc,” said the leader.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ritesh Mishra
Ritesh Mishra is the State Correspondent for Chhattisgarh with Hindustan Times. He reports on Maoism, internal security, politics, mining, governance, and major developments shaping the state. Based in Raipur, he has covered Chhattisgarh since 2016, reporting extensively from the Bastar region and other conflict-affected areas. With nearly two decades of experience in journalism, Ritesh has built a reputation for ground reporting from some of India's most challenging terrains. His coverage spans Left-Wing Extremism, counter-insurgency operations, elections, tribal affairs, environmental issues, infrastructure, mining, and socio-economic developments. He has reported on major security operations, policy initiatives, wildlife crime, and the changing dynamics of conflict and development in Central India. Before moving to Chhattisgarh, Ritesh spent eight years reporting from Madhya Pradesh, covering politics, administration, crime, development, and social issues. Throughout his career, he has reported on various forms of extremism in Central India, combining field reporting with in-depth analysis to produce accurate, balanced, and impactful journalism. Prior to joining Hindustan Times, Ritesh worked with The Pioneer and The Free Press Journal, where he covered a wide range of beats and honed his skills in political, investigative, and field reporting. His reporting is marked by exclusive stories, extensive fieldwork, and a commitment to factual, on-the-ground journalism that brings complex issues to a wider audience.Read More

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