Seven districts, 12 constituencies and 14 lakh people, 70 per cent of them tribals, will decide who will form government in Chhattisgarh.
Historically, the party that has won Bastar, has formed the government in the state. In 1998, Congress won all 12 seats. In 2003, BJP won nine, and in 2008 it won 11 seats.
With tribal votes constituting more than 32 per cent of the electorate and 29 out of the 90 segments in the Assembly reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Bastar will influence tribals in the rest of the state as well.
Leaders from both BJP and Congress acknowledge that the Naxals are the most important factor in Bastar. “When it comes to Naxals, every leader is ready to compromise. One cannot campaign in the area without their direct or indirect consent. With the Centre now installing CCTV cameras in the polling booths and increasing the number of security personnel, we expect the influence of naxals to be less,” a candidate said.
The importance of Bastar can be gauged from the fact that both BJP and Congress brought their star campaigners to the area to kickstart their campaign. While BJP invited Narendra Modi to speak at Ambikapur, the Congress hosted the Rahul show at Jagdalpur.
The most important Congress leader from Bastar was Mahendra Karma when alive. Now, the party is trying to rebuild its base in the region by giving a ticket to his wife Devti Karma and promoting young faces like Samu Kashyap.
The vacuum created by Baliram Kashyap's death in 2011 has still not been filled. Kashyap was active in Bastar since 1972 when he became MLA. Later he was elected MP four times from Bastar. His son, Kedar, a minister, is still learning the ropes.
However, both BJP and Congress have stopped tribal leader from becoming too powerful.
Congress had Arvind Netam, a five-term MP who was a deputy minister in the Centre in 1972, but was stopped from claiming a place when the state came into existence. He left the party.
Similarly, Nand Kumar Sai of BJP, who was elected to the Assembly twice and to Parliament five times, was denied a ticket he sought from Jashpur, leaving him sulking.
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