Chhattisgarh : Despite Chhattisgarh being a tribal dominated state, the politics here has started revolving around OBCs. The ruling party Congress and CM BhupeshBaghel are trying to turn OBC voters to their side at any cost. On the other hand, BJP has also boarded on the boat of Fresh young voters other than OBC vote bank in the state.
There is a close contest between Congress and BJP to capture power in Chhattisgarh. In tribal dominated Chhattisgarh, the emphasis of Congress and BJP is on OBC votes and both the parties are playing this gamble. Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel is using 27 percent reservation for OBCs as an election weapon.
The State In-charge BrijmohanAgarwal claimed, “BJP will win because there is many points which will favour us as anti-incumbency wave”. He explained point wise that Corruption in coal mining – The state government has been accused of embezzlement worth more than Rs 10,000 crore in the District Mineral Trust. Promotion of liquor – The state government has been facing allegations of uncontrolled promotion of liquor sale since the first year of its tenure. Cow Dung Procurement Scheme- There is news of widespread irregularities in the cow dung procurement scheme. Here soil is being purchased in the name of cow dung and farmers are facing the allegation of giving soil in the name of vermi compost. In this scheme also the government is accused of a scam of crores of rupees in the name of grant.
He said, that Corruption in Public Service Commission – Bribery is being encouraged in the competitive examinations conducted by the Public Service Commission. Fraud through illegal online gaming/betting – Cases of money laundering related to illegal online gaming/betting apps have been reported. This illegal business is like chit fund companies are flourishing. Promotion of religious conversion – Conversion is being promoted by the Congress government. There have been many cases of Christianization in the Adivasi community, Satnami community and OBC community of the state. Crime – There has been a rapid increase in criminal incidents in the state. Incidents like murder, robbery, rape have become daily matter.
Mr.Agarwal further accused the government that Communal violence – Hindus are being harassed in a planned manner in the state. Following incidents of communal violence in Kabirdham district in October 2021 and Bemetara district in April this year, the BJP has accused the government of being biased towards a particular community. Promotion of Naxalism – This government has been accused of promoting Naxalism also. State Home Department figures shows that during the Congress Party’s rule, 1302 incidents of Maoist violence have taken place in the state in the four and a half years from January 1, 2019 to June 15, 2023. In these violent incidents, 139 security forces personnel have been killed in Maoist attacks.
Ignoring developmental works – Many development works have been neglected during the tenure of Congress. No major developmental project has been started in any area. No new road or building has been constructed anywhere.
This time BJP is not contesting elections on the face of Raman Singh but is seeking votes in the name of PM Modi. In this way BJP is cashing in on NarendraModi’s OBC card. Not only this, the way BJP has given 36 percent tickets to OBC community leaders, the party is trying to give a political message.
BJP has fielded its candidates on 85 out of 90 assembly seats, out of which 31 candidates are from the OBC community. Congress has announced tickets for 30 out of 90 seats, out of which 9 candidates are from OBC community. According to the candidate list released so far, BJP has given tickets to 36 percent OBCs while Congress has fielded 30 percent candidates from backward classes.
When Chhattisgarh was formed in 2000, AjitJogi, who belonged to the tribal community, became the Chief Minister, since then no tribal has become the CM, whereas the tribal community played an important role in making it a separate state. BJP remained in power from 2003 to 2018 and the post of Chief Minister was held by Dr. Raman Singh, who comes from Thakur (upper) caste. In the last assembly elections, when Congress came to power by defeating BJP, the crown of Chief Minister was given to BhupeshBaghel from OBC community.
OBC community plays a very important role in Chhattisgarh. There are 22 MLAs out of 90 assembly seats in the state. Of these, six are from Sahu community and seven are from Kurmi community. Apart from this, there are also MLAs from Yadav, Kalar, Marar and other communities. If we look at the LokSabha, there are MPs from OBC category on five out of 11 seats. In the 90 assemblies of the state, 51 seats are reserved for the general category, 10 seats for SC and 29 seats for ST. What is the political outcome of the way Congress and BJP are playing the game of OBCs, it will be known only in the election results will be announced on December 3?
