Yena, Kena, Prakāreņa

There has a been a constant effort to divide Rajasthan's adivasis on religious lines by any means possible

- Shreya Basak

“WELCOME to Bhil Pradesh…” proudly proclaims 43-year-old Kantilal Roat, as he welcomes you to Dungarpur, one of the eight tribal-dominated districts in poll-bound Rajasthan. As the desert state gears up for its 16th assembly elections, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both seeded electoral contestants, appear to be trying their best to outwit each other on the mainstream political court. But away on the sidelines and below the eyeline, the steady rise of tribal identity politics in South Rajasthan, Dungarpur included, has thrown up several intrinsic challenges and questions, including a demand for a tribal state, ‘Bhil Pradesh’.

The ruling Congress, the BJP, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and the Gujarat-based Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BTP) have fielded their candidates for the 25 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes representatives. And the BAP, a new political outfit that birthed a split in the older BTP seems to have thrown down the gauntlet to the BJP and the Congress in the state’s tribal belt.

The tribal-dominated electoral belt comprises Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and five other districts: Udaipur, Rajsa mand, Chittorgarh, Sirohi and Pali, which have significant tribal votes.

The intensity of BAP’s push has forced senior Congress and BJP leaders to frequently parachute to the tribal belt, armed with bags full of electoral promises.

Tribals account for 13.5 percent (2011 Census) of Rajasthan’s population. Among them, the Bhils are the oldest tribe, while the Meenas are the largest numerically. Among the other tribes are Damor, Dhanka, Garasia, Patelia, Seharia and so on.