“Tribals are natives of MP, calling them foreigners or with different names is an insult”: Ex-CM Kamal Nath

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 9 (ANI): With the assembly elections slated later this year in Madhya Pradesh, politics to please the tribal people seems to be intensified.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress party organised a program on the occasion of World Tribal Day at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office in the state capital Bhopal on Wednesday. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and PCC Chief Kamal Nath has participated in the program with other senior party leaders.

Ahead of the program, speaking to the reporters, Nath said, “The data of the central government states that maximum atrocities are being committed on the tribal people in Madhya Pradesh. Today is World Tribal Day, but it is a matter of sadness that maximum atrocities are being committed on the tribal people in Madhya Pradesh across the country. This is the situation and it is not hidden from anyone.”

Tribal people are the native of Madhya Pradesh and calling them foreigner or with different names is their insult, he added.

Addressing the program, Nath said “After four months, the Congress government will be formed and then the tribal community will be the safest community. Attention will be given to all communities but special attention will be given to the tribal community.”

“We are not doing any favour. Today along with tribal day, the whole state is celebrating Quit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Day,” he added.

Meanwhile, reacting to Nath’s remark, BJP spokesperson, Rajnish Agarwal said, “During the Congress tenure and their previous regime (referring to Digvijaya Singh), there were many incidents of tribal atrocities. Presently the tribal atrocities incidents have increased where the Congress is in power. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are vivid examples of this.”

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh did the work of providing free rations, pucca houses, health insurance of Rs 5 Lakh and honouring the great tribal personalities, he added.

Agarwal further said, “Congress won seats in tribal dominated areas during 2018 state assembly elections by creating confusion, but in 2019 general elections, BJP became victorious in tribal-dominated areas by a huge margin.”

During the time of Congress tenure, conspiratorial forces like separatism, Naxalites and religious conversion practice got a boost in the tribal areas, the BJP leader alleged.

Notably, the tribal people play an important role in the state assembly polls as they account for nearly 21 percent of the total electors and 47 seats out of 230 seats are reserved for them.