JOIN USDroupadi Murmu’s Presidential candidature part of BJP's Wayanad strategy?
Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to nominate tribal leader Droupadi Murmu as a Presidential candidate could be part of the saffron party’s efforts to gain ground among Wayanad’s tribal communities.
The Wayanad constituency in Kerala is the sitting seat of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.
Since Gandhi’s thumping victory at Wayanad in 2019, the BJP has been keenly focusing on the district, particularly addressing the challenges faced by the tribals, who constitute 18 per cent of the district’s population.
Union Minister of Women and Child development Smriti Irani visited the tribal areas of the constituency last month and alleged of lack of amenities, and future events planned in the district are a visit by tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda, and a sitting of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Several other BJP state leaders have also frequented Wayanad over a period.
These concentrated efforts by the BJP had even triggered speculations that the party is planning to bring the fight to Wayanad, by contesting against Rahul Gandhi—if he contests again from the constituency—as they did at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
K P Madhu, BJP Wayanad district president, told DH that, so far, his party has little influence among the tribal communities. As a result, the party lost around 25 seats—by a thin margin—in the district’s last local body elections. Hence, the party was now actively engaging with the tribal community by focusing on their welfare and development needs. The decision to make a tribal leader the Presidential candidate would obviously help in influencing the tribal community, he said.
Meanwhile, political analysts point out a completely different angle. According to them, as four of the seven assembly constituencies under Wayanad Lok Sabha seat fall in the neighbouring Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, Muslim votes, rather than tribal votes, would continue to be the decisive factor in the constituency.
It would not be that easy to influence tribal community members with a Presidential candidate, political activist N M Karasserry said. He explained that Wayanad’s tribal population comprises of different communities such as the Paniyas, Adiyas and Kurichiyas, and there is discrimination among them, as well. Moreover, all of them need not even be aware of a tribal leader being made the Presidential candidate by the BJP, Karasserry said.
In the past, when the BJP attempted to influence tribal vote banks, by aligning with tribal leader C K Janu, there were allegations of financial deals among the leaders.