AHMEDABAD: Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-RSS of using the term 'Vanvasis' for tribals and thereby diluting tribal identity, enabling corporate capture of resources, and weakening public institutions.
Addressing the 'Adivasi Adhikar Samvidhan Sammelan' in Vadodara, Gandhi reiterated his demand for a caste Census, which he said, is vital for tribals to get their share in power and wealth of the country.
"Adivasi refers to the original owners of India. Had you visited this land 1,000, 2,000, or even 5,000 years ago, you would have found that every single inch of land was in the hands of Adivasis," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha told the gathering.
“I want to start with the word ‘tribal’. If you came 2000–3000 years ago, there is no dispute that all the land belonged to the tribals. Your history is of losing land. Gradually you were being removed…removed…now in the 21st century, a new word has come. The RSS-BJP’s word is ‘Vanvasi’.”
He argued that language itself is being used as a political tool to erase original ownership and weaken tribal claims over land and resources.
“Vanvasi means that you were not the original owner. Adivasi means that this country was yours the water, forest and land were yours. Vanvasi means that water, forest and land are not yours. Vanvasi is an attack on the ideology of Birsa Munda. Look at this Constitution. This was written after independence. It is the law and vision of India. But this is not a new book. This book contains an ideology that is thousands of years old.”
Linking identity with policy, Rahul Gandhi moved to governance failures, alleging that protections meant for tribals are being systematically weakened while access to education is shrinking due to aggressive privatization in Gujarat.
“MGNREGA, PESA law, all this was to give you protection. You talked about the future. All colleges and universities have been closed in Gujarat. Everything has been privatised. How will you get education? Without high-quality government schools, universities or colleges, you cannot get education...Your children can go to high-quality government schools and colleges and study for minimum money and remain competitive. I felt very good that you all met and you talked about the tribal vision.”
Escalating his attack, Rahul Gandhi directly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “He folds his hands Infront of Birsa Mundaji, but when it comes time to give power or money, he becomes silent.”
He then pointed out that the BJP is claiming that MGNREGA is given to marginalised people for free while the same party continues to overlook corporate debt.
“There is nothing free in MGNREGA, money is given by working hard and it is called free and Adaniji’s lakhs and crores are forgiven, that is not free but development. Whose progress? The progress of 90 percent or 500–1000 people. Whose development is happening? The poor, the farmers? Or the billionaires?”
Gandhi also criticised the PM's current foreign policy and economic decisions, accusing Modi of compromising both parliamentary accountability and farmers’ interests.
“He made a deal with America in which, for the first time, a Prime Minister of India opened the agricultural sector...Here, farmers work by hand. If their goods enter our market, our farmers will be ruined. That is why no Prime Minister had opened the agricultural sector. Pulses, soybeans, fruits, cotton all have been opened. For four months they resisted, they were stuck, and I kept asking why. Even government officials were saying the agricultural sector should not be opened.”
Pushing further into structural inequality, Rahul Gandhi raised the demand for a tribal census, linking representation with actual participation in power structures from bureaucracy to corporate India.
“The meaning of the tribal census is, how many tribals are there? What is their share in the country’s institutions, bureaucracy, corporates. This has been done in Telangana. You are 9 percent, Dalits are 15 percent. How much participation is there? Do you think you have 10 percent participation in the country?”
He reinforced this argument with a critique of systemic exclusion, pointing to decision-making spaces and economic control remaining concentrated among a few.
“The wealth of the entire country is being distributed…But there is no Dalit or backward class anywhere in the line. Look at the list of private hospitals, colleges, corporates. Where are the tribals in this? 16 lakh crores have been waived.”
Turning back to privatisation, Rahul Gandhi argued that the shift from public to private control has effectively dismantled reservation-based access, thereby excluding marginalised communities from economic mobility.
He argued that the word 'privatisation' is misleading as it could mean that anyone can own it, be it Dalits or tribals or anyone else, but it actually means that only a few rich people get the benefit.
“Earlier, there was a public sector. There was reservation in it. Tribals, Dalits and backward people could go there. Open the list of Adaniji’s company…you will not find a single tribal.”
Finally, he tied the issue of land directly to development politics, alleging that tribal land continues to be the first casualty of large-scale projects while dissent on caste census is being politically targeted.
“To whom does the land go in the country? Whenever it comes to development, the land of the tribals is directly grabbed. If you want to build a statue, you grab the land of the tribals, if you want to open a mine, you grab the land of the tribals…When I talk about caste census, RSS, Modiji and BJP people attack me.”
Rahul Gandhi framed the BJP as opposing the legacy of key social reformers and tribal icons.
“BJP people, Modiji are joining hands against Birsa Mundaji. They are joining hands against Ambedkarji, against the statue of Phuleji, against Gandhiji. But they are not protecting the cause for which Birsa Mundaji died.”