NEW DELHI: Forest rights of tribal communities in Jharkhand may prove to be a key factor in the upcoming elections in the state, according to an analysis report by advocacy group Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA).With 28 reserved scheduled tribes Assembly constituencies in the state, there was tough competition between Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and BJP with the former winning 13 seats and the latter 11, showed an analysis of the outcome of the 2014 assembly elections.
Congress, meanwhile, secured zero of the ST reserved assembly constituencies, it said. JMM was the runner up, followed by BJP and Congress in the ST reserved constituencies, it showed. With Forest Rights Act (FRA) being poorly implemented in the state, political parties have to show commitment towards FRA on how they can implement the law in order to win the upcoming election, said the analysis.
Among the total number of 81 constituencies in the state, 62 have FRA potential in defining the political outcome. The report categorises these constituencies in to three types — 10 having critical value, 26 high value and another 26 having good value in deciding the election outcome. “The report shows that Tribal communities’ rights over forest lands will act as a deciding factor in the upcoming elections. The Centre’s plan to drop changes in the Indian Forest Act was also a political decision ahead of the Jharkhand state elections,” said Tushar Dash, independent researcher and contributor to the analysis.
The report has recommended states should withdraw forest offence and other retributive cases criminalising tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers whose rights are recognised under the FRA. It has recommended constituting a high-level empowered committee headed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs which ensures other laws are amended to comply with the FRA.
The methodology included the election commission data on 2014 assembly constituency results and the assembly-wise FRA potential based on 2011 Census data. “There is little awareness on the FRA’s potential value in deciding elections among political parties,” said Sudhir Pal, convener, Jharkhand Van Adhikar Manch.
Saryu Roy, Raghubar Das file nomination papers
Former Jharkhand minister Saryu Roy, who filed nomination papers against CM Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur (East) seat on Monday, said his closeness with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could be one of the reasons for BJP denying him the ticket. Roy and Das filed their nomination papers on Monday. While Das filed papers as the BJP candidate to win the seat for sixth term since 1995, Roy submitted nomination as an Independent for Jamshedpur (East) seat. AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto filed his nomination from Silli Assembly seat, while Professor Gaurav Ballabh of Congress and JVM-P’s Abhay Kumar Singh also filed nomination on Monday.