Amid the ongoing campaign for the state assembly elections scheduled to be held in November this year where the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP is up against the ruling Congress government in Chhattisgarh, a controversy has erupted after the BJP chose Prabodh Minj as its candidate from the Vanvasi (Adivasi/Janjati) dominated Lundra constituency of Surguja, a seat reserved for the scheduled tribes. The development has occurred in the wake of growing consensus among the Janjatiya community on delisting which has left the saffron party in delusion over the candidature of Minj
The party announced the candidature of Prabodh Minj in the first lot of its candidates for the state assembly elections. However the party’s decision didn’t go well with a section of local functionaries and supporters who are of the opinion that the candidature of Minj doesn’t comply with the party’s ideological line upon which the saffron party has been building consensus within the Vanvasi community to rally behind it in the upcoming elections.
Who is Prabodh Minj?
A former leader of the Indian National Congress (INC) Prabodh Minj switched it’s loyalties to National Congress Party (NCP) in 2003. However his stint with the NCP was turned out to be a short one as the leader from the Sarguja region soon joined the saffron party. Upon joining the BJP, Minj was asked to contest the Ambikapur municipal corporation elections in 2004 in which he got elected as a mayor, a stint that lasted for 10 years.
In 2016 the party nominated him in the state minority commission of which he was a member till 2019. Minz was once again asked to contest the municipal elections in 2019 in which he got elected as a councilor again and is the incumbent leader of opposition in Ambikapur municipal corporation. He has now been provided a ticket from the neighboring Vanvasi dominated Lundra constituency which led to protest by a section of supporters of the BJP.
A practicing catholic Christian, Prabodh Minj has been a popular figure of the party from the Sarguja region who also enjoys good rapport within his community, however his candidature from Vanvasi dominated Lundra constituency where the Christian community merely constitute around 10 per cent of the total population has stoked a controversy as illegal conversion and delisting has been the core agenda for BJP and other Hindu outfits in the region in recent years.
Protest against Minj’s candidature
The candidature of Minj from the Vanvasi dominated Lundra constituency led a section of BJP adherents to oppose it tooth and nail and ask the party to roll back his candidature. The party supporters had also given an ultimatum to the BJP district president Lalan Pratap Singh and conveyed that if the party opts to go with Minj then there would be consequences and the Hindu society would never support such a move of appeasement.
A couple of weeks earlier, while staging a protest against the decision, a section of party workers and supporters reached the party’s district office Sankalp Bhawan and demanded to roll back the candidature of Minj. The protesting adherents of the party were of the opinion that the party has supported the cause of delisting (a pan India exercise to identify those who have converted to other religions and still enjoying privileges provided to scheduled tribes) however, now it has announced a candidate who is a practicing Christian and contesting from a reserved seat, It cannot go together.
The protesters, while opposing the party’s decision, alleged that Prabodh Minj was nominated to the state government minority commission while at the same time the party had also asked him to contest municipal elections on reserved seats for Vanvasis. He was elected as a mayor from neighbouring Ambikapur municipal corporation twice, now the party wants him to contest from the reserved seats for Vanvasis, that is unfortunate as it doesn’t comply with the demand of delisting.
Speaking with the Organiser Purna Oraon, a social worker and Hindu activist said the BJP has been always vocal about the cause of delisting though they chose Minj, a converted Christian as it’s candidate, this cannot go hand in hand, they have to roll back their decision otherwise the Vanvasi community will oppose the party not only in Lundra but in the entire Surguja division.
When confronted, what is wrong in it if someone from the Christian community who has been toeing the party line for years was given a ticket ? Purna replied that what we are demanding is that a pan India exercise should be carried out to identify those who have converted to other faiths except for religious beliefs originated in Bharat should refrain from availing the benefits of reservation. But look, here the party is rallying behind a person who is among one of them who is a convert and still enjoying privileges provided to the scheduled tribes, we will fight against it.
Meanwhile speaking with the Organiser Surya Narayan Suri, Rashtriya Sangathan Mantri of the Janjati Suraksha Manch quoted that “the Hindu Janjati samaj is not happy with the announcement and we too endorse their views. If the BJP or any other party for that matter wanted to give tickets to a person of a certain community that is fine but they should choose a general seat for that, not a reserved one. ”
“If they (BJP) want to provide them a ticket they can provide it from Ambikapur from where he had been elected as a mayor twice. We have also conveyed this to the BJP that on seats reserved for Vanvasis, only a practicing Hindu Vanvasi should be provided a ticket”, concluded Suri.
Party’s stand so far
Meanwhile amid the protests by a section of supporters the local BJP leaders have assured that they have conveyed the concern of the party volunteers and Hindu society to the state leadership and will act accordingly. Speaking with the media the district president Lalan Pratap Singh had earlier informed that the matter has been forwarded to the senior leaders and we will follow their instructions.
Another senior leader of BJP from neighboring Jashpur, Prabal Pratap Judev while speaking with the Organiser said that the party considers 140 cr people as their family and took along every section of the society. There is no if and but that illegal conversion and delisting are major issues, though as far as candidature of an individual is concerned anyone irrespective of his/her religion who aligned with the ideology of the party is more than welcomed.
Rampant conversion and demand for delisting
It is to be noted that the issue pertaining to illegal conversion has been on the forefront of tussle between the incumbent Congress government and the BJP where the latter has been continuously alleging the grand old party for keeping a numb attitude against the conversion sharks.
Additionally the state in recent years has also witnessed a number of communal flare-ups between the local Vanvasis and the converted Christians, the incident of Gorra village of Narayanpur being prominent among them where a enraged mob on new year eve attacked the local Vanvasis, gathered for a meet up against illegal conversion. The incident sparked huge outrage among the Vanvasis community who protested against the rampant illegal conversion and accused the state government for going soft on church backed conversion mafias.
Apart from Gorra there were others incidents of communal scuffles also reported from seperate places of the state where the two communities pick up a fight over burials of their deads, these incidents occurred in wake up of the long standing demand of the Vanvasi community for a delisting which has gained pace in recent years. The elders of the community are of the opinion that the missionaries are deliberately targeting innocent Vanvasis and luring them into conversion through various illegal means such as luring them in jobs, providing free education and healthcare alongside citing similarities between the Christ and the local deities to mislead them in conversion.
The community leaders also alleged that the newly converted Christians backed by the Church also passed disrespectful comments on the Hindu deities and provoked them to convert. However the major cause expressed by the community leaders pertaining to the need of a pan India delisting exercise is that the converted Christians despite practicing their newly embraced religion are often found to be Hindus on records. The very idea behind this is to avail the benefits given to the scheduled tribes. The community leaders claimed that the benefits including reservation are only exclusive to those who practice the Vanvasi culture and traditions, not for those who have converted to a different faith other than those originated from Bharat.
Recently, a number of rallies were also organised by tribal outfits like Janjati Suraksha Manch and other like minded groups across the nations in support of the movement. In Chhattisgarh alone huge rallies were organised at Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bastar, Kondagaon, Raipur, Bilaspur, Ambikapur and Jashpur, where thousands of Vanvasis were seen raising their voice in favor of a pan India delisting exercise.
Now after wide scale protest against Minj, the saffron party is nothing but in between the devil and the deep blue sea in the tribal dominated Sarguja region, where while rolling back the decision will more or less affect the party’s preparation in Lundra and other adjoining constituencies. However, opting to refrain from changing the candidate and not toeing its ideological line will surely dent the party’s image on issues pertaining to illegal conversion and delisting on which the saffron party has been making its cause in the tribal heartland.
