BHOPAL: Hoping to score big on tribal dominated seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will blow the Lok Sabha polls bugle in the Ratlam-Jhabua ST constituency on February 11.
He will address a mega Janjatiya Rally near the Gopalpura airstrip in Bhil-tribe dominated Jhabua district of west MP, which houses three out of the eight assembly segments of the Ratlam-Jhabua ST constituency – a seat which was won by the Congress 14 times in 72 years. Ratlam-Jhabua ST seat and Guna seat were the two Congress citadels in Madhya Pradesh which were won by the BJP riding on the Modi wave in the 2019 national elections, despite a Congress government being in power then.
Senior BJP leaders, including state BJP chief VD Sharma, the Lok Sabha poll in-charge of the state Dr Mahendra Singh and co in-charge Satish Upadhyaya took stock of the preparations of the rally which would not just have gathering of tribals from eight assembly segments of Ratlam-Jhabua seat, but also some segments of the adjoining Dhar-ST and Khargone-ST seats.
“It’ll be a historic tribal rally which would see PM Modi blow the poll bugle for coming LS elections in MP,” Sharma told journalists after reviewing the preparations on ground.
According to local journalist and political analyst Chandrabhan Singh Bhadauria, the rally will not only target one Ratlam-Jhabua ST LS seat of west MP and some segments of the adjoining LS seats of the same state. It has been strategically planned to send a message to tribal voters in the Bhil tribe-dominated Dahod, Chota Udaipur, Panchmahal and Mahisagar districts of neighbouring Gujarat as well as Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh districts of Rajasthan.
“Bhil and Bhilala tribes are the prime tribal groups, not only in the three west MP districts (Jhabua, Ratlam and Alirajpur), but the Bhil tribe particularly (biggest tribal group in MP) actually influences politics of 10-12 districts of western MP, Rajasthan and Modi’s home state Gujarat. There is a growing demand for a separate Bhilanchal state out of the Bhil tribe dominated districts of the three states,” Bhadauria said.
Out of the 18 elections/by-elections held to Ratlam-Jhabua ST seat since 1952, the Congress has won the seat 14 times, while the BJP has won the seat twice, 2014 and 2019.