TRIBAL VOTERS GAVE BJP AN EDGE OVER CONGRESS

At the national level, BJP is likely to strengthen its tribal outreach over the next six months.

- RAHUL CHHABRA

If the Assembly elections in the heartland states were an electoral laboratory, then the BJP's experiment of announcing candidates on tribal seats early, putting extra effort to woo voters on these seats and winning a majority of ST constituencies has been a success. This model also firms up the success mantra for the party's 2024 campaign in tribal areas when Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to register a hattrick in parliamentary elections.

Political observers credit not only the BJP but also the RSS, which has worked on the ground among tribal communities, allegedly surrounded by controversies related to conversion, over the past five years.

At the national level, the BJP is now likely to strengthen its tribal out-reach over the next six months. In 2019, the party had won 31 out of the 47 parliamentary constituencies reserved for Scheduled Tribes. In 2014, the party had won 27 out of the 47 seats. The party's STfocused strategy became more evident when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on the day of the declaration of results, said that the tribal community played a key role in the ouster of the Congress.

The appointment of Droupadi Murmu as President of India also appeared to be the Narendra Modi government's long-term strategy to position itself as a party committed to promoting Scheduled Tribes.