Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his visit to Bhopal today, did what he does best, and without fail—target the Congress party and its governments in the past.
The PM was in the Madhya Pradesh capital for two events—first, Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas to mark the birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, and second, the rededication programme of the Rani Kamlapati railway station earlier known as Habibganj.
Modi managed to give both the events got a political colour by criticising the grand old party without naming it.
It was along expected lines, though. The BJP and the Congress have been trying to woo the tribal populace in view of the assembly polls in 2023. Tribals form 21 per cent of the population of the state and have 47 of 230 assembly seats reserved, while having an electoral impact on another 37 seats. These votes have proved decisive in past poll results. In 2003, the shift of tribal votes to BJP saw the exit of the long-standing Congress government, while in 2018, BJP could not muster a majority for its fourth term as it lost 31 of the 47 tribal seats.
At the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas event at Jamboree Ground, the PM said that the governments after Independence, as part of selfish politics over decades, kept the country in dark about the contribution of the tribal communities to the culture and heritage of the country, and whenever any information was given, it was only limited.
“The crime that the previous governments have committed by not giving due importance and priority to the tribal people should be repeatedly talked about at public platforms. They (tribals) were deprived of all amenities and prosperity, and votes were sought from them election after election in the name of providing these amenities. But when I became the Gujarat CM and then the PM in 2014, we decided to accord the highest priority to this section and provide them equal share in the development of the country,” Modi said.
At the railway station rededication programme, he said that until six years ago, whenever people came in contact with the Indian railways, they would only have negative things to say about it as everything was a mess.
“Right from the huge crowding of the railway stations to poor sanitation and public amenities, long waits due to delayed trains, fear of security onboard trains and general inconvenience… this was the image of Indian railways. Interestingly, people had almost given up the hopes of any improvements or changes, but we showed that when the country comes together for the success of any mission, betterment and changes are imperative,” he said.
At both the programmes, the prime minister launched various schemes, programmes and projects of the MP government and Indian railways, including a 'ration to your village' initiative for tribal areas, a pilot project of sickle cell anaemia mission, waivers of loans taken from private moneylenders, launch of MEMU train service between Indore and Ujjain, electrification and third track laying works of the railways. The PM also announced that the Birsa Munda birth anniversary will be celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas every year on the grand scale as done for Gandhi Jayanti and birth anniversaries of Sardar Patel and Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan thanked PM Modi for taking steps for the betterment of tribal people as well as other deprived sections of society. He urged the gathering at Jamboree Ground to cheer for Modi, for honouring tribals by holding national level Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, giving a ‘world class’ railway station to Bhopal named after a tribal queen, providing ‘free’ COVID vaccination to people, reducing fuel prices 'historically' and providing fertiliser (DAP) at reduced costs.
Reacting to the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas event, former CM and Congress leader Kamal Nath said that the state government spent as much as Rs 100 crore for the programme, but it was disappointing for the tribal people as no major announcements were made for their benefits.
He said that the people expected that the PM would provide some sops and talk about his government's works for tribals in the past seven years, but the PM only kept harping on tribal songs, dances, COVID vaccination and focused on attacking the Congress. He said that the Congress governments took revolutionary decisions for the tribal communities, including ensuring forest rights for them.
As for the CM, Nath said that Chouhan seemed focused on trying to save his chair as he kept praising the PM profusely and talked little about anything else.
Nath said that Chouhan seemed focused on trying to save his chair as he kept praising the PM profusely and talked little about anything else.
Nath also said that it was expected that the PM would visit the families of the infants killed during recent hospital fire in Bhopal, but they were not even mentioned.
The political nature of the events was evident from their conception and preparation stages itself, as the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government went all out to ensure a huge gathering of tribal people – considered a crucial electorate in the state – for the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas programme. The Congress attempted to counter this programme by holding a tribal convention in Jabalpur in presence of former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, but could muster only a thin audience. Nath attributed it to the fact that government machinery was used and buses were arranged to lure people to the Bhopal event.
Interestingly, though there was a huge crowd at the state government’s events, a considerable chunk of people left the venue during Modi’s speech, which left the organisers red-faced. Videos of vacant chairs and people walking out mid-speech went viral on social media.
The other event also got mired in controversy as the decision of naming the station after an 18th century Gond ruler Rani Kamlapati was publicised hugely by the government and local BJP leaders as a step to honour the 'last Hindu queen of Bhopal'. The step was opposed by a section of Congress leaders, who called the decision arbitrary and politically motivated.
