In a big setback for the Congress party in Chhattisgarh, two times cabinet minister and senior tribal leader, Arvind Netam has tendered his resignation from the congress party on August 9. The much-anticipated development occurred after the congress veteran sent his resignation to the All-India Congress Committee AICC and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on August 10 morning.
His resignation from the grand old party came a day after the two times union minister in a press conference had said that the ‘Sarv Adivasi Samaj’ will be contesting elections on a total of 50 seats in upcoming state assembly elections scheduled to be held in November this year.
Speaking with the media the former union minister in the Indira Gandhi cabinet said that the current government is overlooking the constitutional rights of the tribal and acting oppositely, many regions of the state are witnessing agitation against the government. Exclusive rights to gram panchayats in the tribal regions were provided under the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, but the government chose to refrain from it. We will contest the election under the banner of ‘Samajik Manch’.
Earlier in his resignation letter to the AICC the senior Congress leader claimed that the state congress leadership is working against the exclusive constitutional rights provided by Baba Saheb Ambedkar such as abolishing the rights of Gram Sabha under PESA Act of 1996.
Reacting to the development, Chhattisgarh home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said that from our side we have always respected him and ensured his participation in the party after the formation of the government. If he has felt any issue pertaining to the tribes he should have shared and discussed the same with the chief minister or the PCC chief.
Earlier PCC chief and senior Congress leader in a statement has claimed that it is impossible to satisfy a political personality, tribals are happy with our Government and anyone can contest the election in a democracy.
Meanwhile, reacting sharply to the resignation of the veteran tribal leader, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kedarnath Kashyap in a video message said that the congress party has always disrespected the tribal leaders and betrayed them. The resignation of the congress leader has proved that the grand old party in Chhattisgarh is betraying the tribals on the issues like education, livelihood and health.
The resignation of Arvind Netam ji has proven that he was annoyed by the tribal policy of the incumbent government, they (congress party) have betrayed the tribal community and managed to form the government but even after so many years they have failed to win the trust of the community”, added Kashyap
Another senior leader from the state Kedarnath Gupta while highlighting the difference between the congress and the BJP said that our party has always given due credit to the leaders of every section of the society, be it Baliram Kashyap and others we have always worked under the guidance of our tribal leaders. In our government we had also formed two separate authorities such as Bastar and Sarguja development authorities for the development of the tribal regions.
When confronted about whether the BJP will forge an alliance with the Sarv Adivasi Samaj before or after the election, the BJP leader chose to refrain from commenting.
It is to be noted that the state assembly elections in the tribal dominated state are due in November this year where the tribal voters form a significant vote share in Bastar and Surguja division.
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