BHOPAL: It’s not just supporters of some Congress legislators who are dejected over their leaders not being included in the newly constituted council of ministers of Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Miffed over not being made part of the cabinet in Madhya Pradesh, a newly elected Congress MLA has termed the development as insult to the young tribal population of the state.
Dr Hiralal Alawa, the chief of tribal outfit Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), who won on a Congress ticket in the recent assembly polls in MP, has said that not ensuring participation of JAYS in the council of ministers is a rude shock and insult to young tribals in the state (particularly in Malwa-Nimar region) who had largely voted for Congress due to party’s association with the JAYS.
“Before the elections, the office of Congress national president Rahul Gandhi had assured me that JAYS will be a partner in the government, if the Congress came to power in MP. But now the JAYS has been kept away from the cabinet. Like us, all other young tribals are disappointed, we’ll talk to Rahul Gandhi and ask what happened to the promise made to us before the polls,” Alawa told this newspaper on Wednesday.
On December 23, the medico-turned-tribal leader had tweeted about JAYS not being part of the new government. In the tweet, he had mentioned that overlooking the interests of JAYS, will turn out to be a big mistake for the grand old party.
Chandrabhan Singh Bhadauria, senior journalist and political commentator in the tribal belt of West MP, said overlooking Alawa and JAYS’ concerns could prove costly for the Congress in next year’s Lok Sabha polls on at least three seats of Malwa-Nimar region, including Dhar, Ratlam-Jhabua and Khargone-Barwani seats. All three Lok Sabha seats are tribal-dominated, where JAYS has a considerable clout among young and first time voters.