NEW DELHI: The BJP won 14 Forest Rights Act (FRA) sensitive constituencies in the Jharkhand polls as opposed to the 26 it won during the 2014 elections due to discontent among tribals against policies that violated the FRA, said an analysis by a group of independent researchers.
“There has been widespread discontent among the tribals against laws and policy measures by the Centre which are violative of FRA, Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, and customary laws protecting land and forest rights of tribals. This year has seen protests by tribals and forest dwellers…,” said Tushar Dash, who is associated with the Community Forest Rights and Learning Advocacy (CFR-LA) group, and was a researcher in the analysis.
Of the 28 reserved scheduled tribe assembly constituencies, the BJP won only two compared to the 11 constituencies it won in 2014.
“FRA has been largely neglected in Jharkhand and the state has shown no sympathy... the state government had showed reluctance in implementing the FRA. A resentment has developed through the years which has motivated people against the BJP government. I think the present electoral result is an outcome of that anger,” said Sanjay Basu Mullick from the Jharkhand Jangal Bachao Andolan.