Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Tribals of Malwa-Nimar may hold the key in Madhya Pradesh

Indore: The tribal votes are playing a decisive role in a bipolar contest between the BJP and Congress in Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh as both parties are vying for their share of the pie in the community during the Lok Sabha polls.

The Malwa-Nimar region in Western Madhya Pradesh has eight Lok Sabha seats, where polling will be held on May 13.

As the top leaders from both the BJP and Congress are from this region, including Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, Madhya Pradesh State Congress Unit president Jitu Patwari, the campaigning has reached a crescendo.

Despite the huge majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP is facing the challenge of increasing its lead in tribal-dominated areas. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won all the seats in Malwa and Nimar regions.

After Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew the nomination, the political scene in Indore completely changed. Though the BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani is set to win without much fight, the Congress has appealed to voters to press the NOTA button.

Since the region is dominated by tribals, leaders are highlighting issues related to them during the campaign. As the region is also a farm belt, problems faced by farmers including shortage of fertilisers and lack of buyers for the produce are key issues raised by Congress leaders.

While Congress blamed the BJP governments at both the state and Centre for issues faced by the farmers, the BJP is going to town about the Ram Temple consecration.

“I grew soybeans in March, but due to the increased cost of production, I am not able to fetch a good rate for the produce,” said Kanhaiyalal, a farmer in Jhabua.

While Madhya Pradesh has a 21 per cent tribal population, their number is high in Malwa-Nimar region.

As many as 22 of the 66 Assembly seats in the region are reserved for the STs. In the 2023 Assembly polls, among 22 ST reserve seats in the region, the BJP won nine seats, the Congress won 12, and one seat was won by Bhartiya Adivasi Party.

The Congress has traditionally held sway in tribal districts such as Jhabua, Dhar, Alirajpur, Ratlam, and Barwani. Ratlam and Dhar is likely to witness a strong fight between the two parties. This time BJP has changed candidates in Dhar and Ratlam.

“The farmers of the region are in trouble. That is mainly because of bad policy adopted by the ruling BJP governments both at state and Centre,” state Congress president Jitu Patwari said.

The biggest tribal leader in the region is former Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kantilal Bhuria. He is contesting from Ratlam against BJP’s Anita Nagar Singh Chouhan.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, out of 66 seats in the Malwa-Nimur region, the BJP won 47 seats while Congress had 17 and one seat Bhartiya Adivasi Party.

To woo the tribals, the BJP launched many programmes, including renaming railway stations after tribal icons.

The Congress on the other is going all-out to lure the tribals with the assurance of five guarantees to protect forests and the tribal land.