The trouble which the party is facing relates to the ugly incident of urination by a BJP worker on the face of a tribal. The moment this incident became known it sent shockwaves in party, In order to overcome the controversy the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan managed to get the victim to Bhopal, washed his feet, apologized and gave him compensation money. At the same time in order to appease the tribal community Chief Minister ordered the bulldozing of the house of the accused who happens to be a Brahmin.

Now the real trouble began. Despite various steps taken by the Chief Minister to douse the trouble neither the tribals nor the Brahmins felt satisfied. On the contrary the BJP faces the ire of both tribal and Brahmin community.

While tribals are furious over humiliation of one of their own, Brahmins are angry that the house of the accused’s family lived in, was razed driving them homeless. There are 47 tribal reserved constituencies in MP Vidhan Sabha while Brahmins are a crucial factor in at least 56 constituencies.

Tribal leaders say that no matter what was done afterwards, the image of an upper caste man urinating on a tribal is the one seared in their consciousness. Brahmins on the other hand are upset with both BJP and Congress asking why was accused Pravesh Shukla’s family punished for his crime? Congress is facing their ire for pushing for bulldozer action. The demolition will have implications in the coming assembly polls, say the Brahmin leaders,

In the 2018 election, Congress won the majority of ST reserved seats, which proved crucial in forming the government. BJP promptly launched a massive tribal outreach, with the government enacting the PESA Act and renaming Habibganj railway station after Rani Kamlapati. PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have attended several tribal programmes.

On the other hand, the government has announced creation of a “Parshuram Lok’ in Indore, constitution of a Brahmin Welfare Board and hiking the salary of temple priests to Rs. 5000. But the Sidhi incident and its aftermath threatens to pour water on these outreach initiatives.

“Even tribals who do not have as android phones and live deep in the jungles are aware of the incident. It is the image of a man peeing on the face of a poor tribal that is going to remain in the hearts of tribal people who care more for dignity than anything else. Whatever happened after that is a gimmick and will not have any impact. The incident will affect BJP in at least 60 seats. We are getting feedback from everywhere. Our small groups are also making tribals aware” said national general secretary of Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) Balveer Singh Tomar.

Leaders of Jay Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) say resentment was already there in tribal community and now this incident has added fuel to the fire.

The Congress and other opposition parties are taking full advantage of the series of ugly incidents. Besides holding demonstrations and rallies the Congress has submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding appropriate action against the ruling party. PCC chief Kamal Nath led a Congress delegation to meet Governor Mangubhai Patel urging him to intervene to protect tribal rights.

“Atrocities against tribals are relentless in MP. Everyday new cases are reported, We have submitted a memorandum to the Governor. The Sidhi incident has embarrassed and humiliated the state before the country. We have asked the Governor to come forward and protect the rights of the tribals. We demanded that he should take steps to protect tribals,” Nath told media persons.

The Congress memorandum said that more than 30,000 cases of atrocities against tribals have been registered in the state under BJP rule. Apart from the recent Sidhi urination incident it mentions the Nemawar mass murder, in which five persons of a tribal family were killed and buried and the Neemach incident in which a tribal was tied to a vehicle and killed.

During his four hour visit and three hour meeting Amit Shah ended the speculation of a change in leadership in the state government or the BJP organization. The three hour meeting led by Union home minister Amit Shah with party core-committee members confirmed that assembly elections 2023 will be contested under Shivraj Singh Chouhan and V.D. Sharma. The meeting started around 8.30 pm and concluded at 11 pm. Soon after Shah left for Delhi. (IPA Service)