Mining Adivasi Votes

If the BJP manages to win Jharkhand, it will be the third mineral-rich state after Odisha and Chhattisgarh that will fall into the party's kitty

- Abhik Bhattacharya

ON November 15, the 150th birth anniversary of Adivasi icon Birsa Munda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah renamed Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan Chowk as Birsa Munda Chowk. According to BJP leaders, this is the first time in the history of independent India that an Adivasi leader’s name has been etched on the streets of the National Capital.

Coincidentally, thousands of miles away, just a day before—in a different time zone—a 22-year-old indigenous Member of Parliament from New Zealand, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, rocked social media by performing Haka on the floor of the House. Her protest through this traditional Maori dance form against a controversial bill that would allegedly curtail the rights of the indigenous people made it a spectacle.

As the protruding tongue, stomping feet and thumping claps sang paeans to the rights of the indigenous population in New Zealand, the dream of a Santhal or an Oraon flexing bow and arrow on the floor of the Indian Parliament remains a distant dream. What comes as an alternative is mere symbolism—the occasional nomination of an Adivasi as the President or the renaming of some chowks.

Coming a week before the results of the Assembly polls, the renaming of the Delhi chowk seems to have a broader political relevance. Jharkhand has 26 per cent Adivasi population. Since the formation of the state, Adivasis have played a formidable role in determining the fate of political parties. In 2019, when the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led coalition came to power, they won 25 out of the 28 reserved ST seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well, the ruling alliance maintained its tally and won all the five ST-reserved Lok Sabha constituencies.

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