A TRIBE OF THEIR OWN

The voice of marginalised tribal groups, these new representatives now aim to amplify their concerns in Parliament

- Rohit Parihar, Arkamoy Datta Majumdar, Amitabh Srivastava, Jumana Shah and Kaushik Deka

THE DEBUTANTS | TRIBALS

KALIPADA SAREN KHERWAL, 66 TMC Jhargram (ST), West Bengal

His literary credentials are perhaps better than his political ones. A Santhali playwright, the retired bank employee is a two-time Sahitya Akademi Award winner, a Padma Shri awardee (2022) and also the recipient of West Bengal's Banga Bibhushan Samman (2024).

An alumnus of Rabindra Bharati University, he used to run a theatre group popular in Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. Having had close ties with TMC leaders, he was a surprise pick from Jhargram. Now that he's won, Kherwal wants to be a "strong voice for my people" in Parliament.

NABA CHARAN MAJHI, 63 | BJP Mayurbhanj (ST), Odisha

His proximity to President Droupadi Murmu, with whom he had worked when she was a councillor in Rairangpur, is believed to have got this one-term MLA the ticket to the Lok Sabha.

Earlier a member of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Majhi joined the BJP in 2019 and got elected to the Odisha assembly from Rairangpur. Now, he has defeated former MP Sudam Marndi of the Biju Janata Dal and JMM patriarch Shibu Soren's daughter Anjani to win the tribal seat.