New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi will launch the Congress’ Gujarat poll campaign at a tribal rally to be held in Dahod on May 1. Through the rally, Congress is eyeing the crucial 15 percent tribal votes, which influence around 35-40 assembly seats in the western state.
“Preparations are on for the event on May 1,” former Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chawra told ETV Bharat. Over the past several months, the Congress has been raising the issues of the tribals in an attempt to highlight the shortcomings of the BJP government. Recently, the Congress demanded scrapping the Par-Narmada-Tapi river-linking project, saying it threatened the tribal areas.
Led by CLP leader Rathwa and MLA Anant Patel, the state Congress has held protest movements against the central government project in the capital Gandhinagar and affected areas like Dharampur, Tapi, Dang and Kaprala. “The project would have displaced around 50,000 Tribal families. We will not let the government do that to benefit the corporations,” said Rathwa, who is pressing for a white paper on the issue.
As it is highlighting the plight of the tribals, the Congress is also cautious of not being labelled as anti-development. “We are not against development but will fight for the rights of tribals,” said Rathwa, adding that “around 6000 schools in tribal areas are being closed down.” Last month, the Congress and the BJP lawmakers had a war of words in the assembly over the use of the terms "vanvasi" and "vanbandhu" while referring to tribals, claiming that these terms were unconstitutional and derogatory.
