Elections to the state assembly are due in Gujarat later this year. During this, leaders of all parties have started efforts to get their support from the local people. After the success in Delhi and Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party has started spreading its foot rapidly in Gujarat as well. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), the party of former Congress ally Tribal leader and MLA Chhotubhai Vasava, is considering an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. This has stirred up all the parties.
Earlier, to gain the trust of the tribal community, the Congress party was simultaneously raising voice in their movement against the Par-Tapi-Narmada River Linking Project. Vasava’s son and BTP President Mahesh Vasava, who is MLA from Dediapara, had met Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in Delhi on Sunday.
The meeting comes days after former BTP vice-president Rajesh Vasava alias Raj Vasava joined the Congress. A day after Congress organized a tribal rally in Gandhinagar to protest against the PTN project on March 25, AAP state chief Gopal Italia said the party was in talks with the BTP.
Senior AAP leader Isudan Gadhvi said in a statement, “Three-four days ago, we met BTP leaders Chhotubhai and Maheshbhai… They told us that both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have done nothing for the tribal community. So after some deliberation we met Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
It said, “Mahesh Vasava spoke to Kejriwal and presented some issues of the tribal community before him. Kejriwal asked us to explain in detail about the tribal society.” Mahesh said Kejriwal is likely to come for a rally in Gujarat on April 2, when the two are likely to discuss seat-sharing and other issues.
Last week, AAP leaders including Arjun Rathwa, Italia and Gadhvi met Chhotubhai and proposed an alliance in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. The Aam Aadmi Party saw its first electoral victory in Gujarat, when it won 27 out of 120 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), largely due to the Patidar vote, and eliminated the Congress from the opposition. Buoyed by its victory in the Punjab Assembly elections, AAP plans to contest all the seats in Gujarat.
While Chhotubhai and his son are the only BTP MLAs in the Gujarat Assembly, from Jhagadia constituency in Bharuch and Dediapara in Narmada, the party has two MLAs in Rajasthan and governs five tehsils in the state. After meeting Kejriwal for about an hour on Sunday, Mahesh Vasava visited government hospitals and schools in Delhi.
Mahesh told The Indian Express, “They (AAP) have assured us of all cooperation and we had a good meeting. There are 27 Scheduled Tribe seats in Gujarat and Adivasi votes are good in 51 seats. Kejriwal assured us of all possible support for the development and upliftment of tribals in Gujarat.
In 2017, the Congress forged a seat-sharing alliance with the BTP, giving it six seats, two of which were won by the Vasavas. Of the 27 reserved seats for STs, Congress won 15 and BTP two seats, while one went to independents and the rest to the BJP.
Earlier that year, it is believed that Chhotubhai’s vote as the lone Janata Dal (U) MLA in the Gujarat Assembly ensured the victory of late Congress MP Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha. However, by the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, this alliance broke down as the Congress refused to forge an alliance with the BTP.
Last year, in the local body elections, the BTP forged a seat-sharing alliance with the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). “Kejriwal will visit Gujarat on April 2… After the roadshow, he is expected to meet Chhotubhai who will take the final call,” Mahesh said.
Elaborating on the party’s alliance with AMIM in the local elections last year, Vasava said, “BTP has two MLAs in Rajasthan where we govern five taluka panchayats. If there is an alliance with AAP, we will support in Rajasthan and Maharashtra elections also. Our party is a tribal party and we have reach to other states.