After CM Chouhan washed his feet, tribal Dashmat also gets compensation
Vibha Sharma
Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, July 7
On Thursday Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan washed the feet of Dashmat Rawat, a labourer from a tribal community who was seen being urinated upon by a “BJP leader” in a video.
“Seeing that video pained me. I apologise to you,” Chouhan told Dashmat. Also calling him “Sudama”, Chouhan said “Dashmat, you are now my friend”. He applied tilak, garlanded him and presented him with gifts. Together, they also planted a sapling at the Smart City Park in Bhopal.
A day later the Madhya Pradesh government also announced financial assistance for Rawat. “As per the instructions of the Honorable Chief Minister, an assistance of Rs 5 lakh has been sanctioned to Mr Dashmat Rawat and financial assistance of Rs one lakh 50 thousand for the construction of a house,” according to reports quoting the Sidhi collector.
The urine‘gate’ issue
The video showing Pravesh Shukla urinating on Rawat in Siddhi district went viral sparking a political storm in the poll-bound state. Rival Congress targeted the ruling BJP, calling Shukla “a BJP leader and an associate of Siddhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla.”
Distancing itself, BJP rejected that the accused was a member of the party. Kedar Shukla also denied having any link with Pravesh Shukla, saying that he had three representatives and the accused was not one of them.
However, his father, Ramakant Shukla said his son was the representative of Kedar Shukla. “He is a representative of the BJP MLA, which is why he is being targeted by the opposition. I hope there is a thorough investigation in the case, and justice is served”, Ramakant Shukla was quoted as saying.
Pravesh Shukla has been arrested and slapped with the NSA.
The authorities have also demolished a part of his residence on Wednesday. However, Congress has turned the issue into a political one and its ST wing is also planning to launch a nationwide protest against the BJP, including in Madhya Pradesh where STs form a major chunk of the state’s population.
SC/STs and MP’ political equation
Madhya Pradesh has around 15 million tribal population and perhaps also the largest number of crimes against them, according to the NCRB data. The STs constitute 17 per cent of the population in the state and SCs 21 per cent. Their political strength can be gauged from the fact that of the total 230 seats in the assembly, 47 are tribal and 35 reserved seats.
Together they constitute one-third of the total seats in the assembly.
In 2018 when thousands of Dalits protested a Supreme Court judgment diluting the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the impact was felt in the MP Assembly elections.
In the 2013 assembly polls, the BJP had won 37 of these 47 tribal seats to retain power for a third consecutive time.
But in 2018, the Congress won 31 seats, reducing the BJP to 16.
Why BJP needs SC/ST by their side
While the BJP got 41.02 percent votes and the Congress 40.89 percent, in terms of seats it was 109 for the BJP and 114 for the Congress. It is another matter that despite narrowly losing to the Congress in 2018, the BJP managed to return to power in 2020 with the help of Jyotiraditya Scindia who crossed over with Congress MLAs from his region.
The BJP is in no mood to repeat that and, according to reports the party is making extra efforts to recover lost ground and strengthen its base among Dalits. Sources say the BJP is aiming to increase vote share in Madhya Pradesh to at least 51 percent and has prepared a blueprint focusing on increasing reach among SC/ST communities and addressing their issues.
