RAIPUR: With the politics over tribal quota heats up in Chhattisgarh, the campaign in the upcoming Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved seat of Bhanupratapur Assembly bypoll is witnessing a curious turn of events as the tribal residents are being administered with an oath to support and vote for a candidate finalised by a tribal body ‘Sarva Adivasi Samaj’.
Strong reverberation on the issue of ST reservation is being felt across the constituency and might impact the voters’ mood in the reserved constituency, having nearly 70 per cent tribal population. There are now seven candidates, including Savitri Mandavi of the ruling Congress and Bhramanand Netam of the opposition BJP. The Sarva Adivasi Samaj has also said it will support an independent candidate.
“Such oaths are more a gimmick as the same Adivasi Samaj first declared to get candidates from each gram panchayat. Out of the 16 candidates of the Samaj, as many as eight have declared their support for the Congress. So, such administered pledges will hardly sway the voters’ choice.
All these are nothing more than pressure tactics to make their presence felt amid the burning issue on tribal reservation,” said Vijay Pandey, a political observer based in Kanker district. The by-poll to the scheduled tribe reserved Bhanupratapur seat in Kanker district was necessitated following the demise of a sitting Congress MLA and deputy Speaker Manoj Mandavi on October 16.
Baghel Cabinet approves amendment bill on quota
The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday approved a draft amendment bill on reservations
in education and government jobs in proportion to the population of ST, SC and OBC in the state. With the approval of the Bhupesh Baghel cabinet, the bill will now be tabled during the special session of the Assembly on December 1-2.