A number of the villages in the Sheopur and Shivpuri districts have ghettos inhabited by the Sahariya tribe and considered by many parties as a vote bank readily wooed by cash, liquor and gifts.
Poverty and illiteracy are widespread among the Sahariyas. But the situation is changing
Sibhi Bai of Madhya Pradesh's Sesaipura village says the upcoming elections are going to be different for her community. The village is determined to not sell out their vote for material considerations, she says, with rare candour. Politicians are welcome to canvass for votes, with an important caveat — no freebies.
A number of the villages in the state's Sheopur and Shivpuri districts have ghettos inhabited by the Sahariya tribe, classified by the Centre as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group and considered by many political parties as a vote bank readily wooed by cash, liquor and gifts. There are about 5.6 lakh Sahariyas in the country spread mostly across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the states that will go to poll on November 28 and December 7, respectively.
"We won't accept cash or gift. We will vote for the candidate who promises us a pucca house and better drinking water facilities," says Bai, a Sahariya residing in Bada Sehrana, a colony inside the Sesaipura village. Sehrana is a ghetto within a village where only the Sahariya community resides.
Early this week, ET Magazine visited two such Sahariya ghettos — Bada Sehrana and Ugana Sehrana, the latter being located in Karhal village. None of those two localities, inhabited by more than 400 Sahariya families, has ever produced a college graduate.
Most of the residents earn their daily bread by working as labourers, though some of them also manage some extra income by farming and collecting forest products such as tendu leaves.
Sahariya localities come under Madhya Pradesh's Chambal belt, once notorious for dacoits such as Phoolan Devi, Paan Singh Tomar and Daku Man Singh. It's not surprising therefore that Bai's 24-year-old son is named Gabbar Singh, a fictional character of a Chambal dacoit depicted in the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster, Sholay. The last dreaded Chambal dacoit, Rambabu Gadariya, was killed in 2007.
The dacoits might have been eliminated, but poverty and illiteracy in the area, particularly among the Sahariya tribe, have persisted. In Ugana Sehrana, for example, everyone is proud of one man — Ganesh Adivasi — who is a bank cashier in a co-operative bank, and currently posted in nearby Morena. The villagers have proudly mentioned two other names, both primary school teachers.
Women in Sesaipura return from a village meeting and (bottom) Sahariya men at a village temple in Karhal. Traditionally, women are not allowed into the temple
The level of literacy may undergo changes in the coming days, though. Dashi Adivasi, a labourer in the village, says with a sense of pride how her niece is studying in a residential school in Sheopur, a town located 42 km away. Ramvir Adivasi says he has sent his son Munna to study in Indore, 450 km away. "He is now in Class 8." Sahariya tribals, with their simple way of life, are used for political gains during elections. The Sahariya colonies this writer visited fall under the Vijaypur assembly constituency, where 15 candidates are contesting.
Incumbent MLA Ramnivas Rawat is from the Congress, with his key rival being BJP's Sitaram Adivasi, a local Sahariya. Bahujan Samaj Party and Aam Aadmi Party, too, have put up candidates there. Pannalal Solanki, an IAS officer and former collector of Sheopur, is also contesting as an Independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the BJP.
Giriraj Paliwal, another local, says politicians broker deals with village elders for Rs 50,000-100,000 to buy votes en mass. "Representatives were sent to distribute Lugra (saree) among women. There were also instances of community feasts being arranged by candidates. I have not seen that this year. Maybe, the awareness among the villagers has risen."
“We broadcast radio programmes for seven and a half hours a day. It can be heard in FM 90.8 MHz up to a radius of 25 km. We broadcast election awareness messages for 10-15 minutes a day, mainly targeted at the Sahariya community” Umesh Kumar Ojha assistant station coordinator, Vanya Community Radio Centre, Sesaipura
In Sahariya-dominated Karahal block, 596 litres of liquor, costing about Rs 1.6 lakh, were seized by the police since the model code of conduct was enforced on October 6, according to Election Commission data available till November 17, indicating how attempts are being made to influence voters this time as well. In Sheopur district, 7,469 litres of alcohol were seized during the same period.
The local unit of the Election Commission recently released a short voter's awareness film, Chokha Vote (Genuine Vote), in which locals, including those from the Sahariya community, have acted. One of the actors, Umesh Kumar Ojha, serves as an assistant station coordinator of Sesaipura's Vanya Community Radio Centre, run by Madhya Pradesh's tribal affairs department.
"We broadcast election-awareness messages for 10-15 minutes a day, mainly targeted at the Sahariya community," says Ojha, whose programmes including folk songs and agriculture bulletins can be heard within a 25 km radius on the 90.8 MHz FM frequency.
Ojha has aired the message. The question is, will his message be heard.
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