Adilabad: The long-running dispute between the Adivasi Gonds and Lambada Banjaras over land and resources in Telangana, especially in areas that fall under the Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency, has kept political parties under tension.
Adilabad is a reserved segment of Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Both the Gond and Lambada communities are recognized as Scheduled Tribes in the state and have been at loggerheads over the distribution of government benefits and resources.
The Gonds claim that Lambadas are “unfairly cornered” in employment, especially in the education sector, despite Gonds making up a large proportion of Adilabad’s population.
This time, seizing the opportunity, all three major political parties in the Telugu state – the BJP, Congress and BRS – have fielded Gonz as their candidate. While the BJP is trying to retain its seats, the Congress and BRS are trying hard to wrest the seats from the saffron party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Soyam Baprao of the BJP won from here.
The Congress fielded Adivasi rights activist Atram Suguna, while the BRS selected Atram Suku. The saffron party replaced the sitting MP with Godam Nagesh, who defected from the BRS.
“They (Lambadas) have been designated as a tribe since 1976. They were given only an education quota and that was in the plains. They have cornered all the reservations given to Adivasis, be it in the sector. This has to stop,” said Ghodom, state executive president of Adivasi Hakra Porata Samiti, resident of Komaram Bheem Colony in Adilabad. Ganesh said.
Ganesh said his organization, not groups like Lambada Banjaras, has been fighting for the rights of Gonds and the government, which is responsible for enforcing the law.
According to rough estimates, there are around 1.65 million voters in Adilabad Lok Sabha, of whom 450,000 are tribal. According to the 2011 census, there were 250,000 Adivasis and 150,000 Lambadas in the erstwhile Adilabad district.
Bharatiya Janata Party will dominate in 2023
In last year’s assembly polls, the BJP won seats in Sirpur, Mudhole, Nirmal and Adilabad out of the seven constituencies that fall under the Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency. Congress won in Khanapur and BRS won in Asifabad and Boat.
“In the last Lok Sabha elections, we elected Soyam Baprao of the Bharatiya Janata Party because we all felt that our voices needed to be heard in Parliament. He didn’t work for rights at all. That’s why we distanced ourselves from him and that’s why the BJP might have replaced him this time,” Gond Adivasi, who requested anonymity, told DH. told.
The BJP fielded Bapu Rao in the 2019 polls as he was seen as a vocal supporter and activist of Adivasi rights. Now, the Congress is taking a similar line by fielding Suguna in the 2024 polls. People see Suguna as a strong defender of Adivasi rights.
harmonies affected
“Some business groups in the Adilabad tribal belt have taken advantage of the small rift between the Adivasi Gonds and the Lambadas to create a so-called conflict.Otherwise, both communities have been living in harmony for a long time. They coexisted and coexisted,” said Amar Singh Thirawat, a special guest and former minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party National Executive.
Thilawat, the All India Banjara Seva Sangh (AIBSS) leader, said people will look beyond such rifts and conflicts when they vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On December 9, 2019, in a show of strength, thousands of Adivasis took their fight to Delhi and staged a protest at Ram Lila Maidan to declassify Lambada community from Telangana’s Scheduled Tribes list. .
Although the conflict has existed for some time, clashes between Adivasi Gonds and Lambadas have become more frequent since 2017 following an incident of vandalism at a tribal museum in Asifabad district.
While the conflict between the two groups is a concern for political parties, it is equally focused on voters from non-tribal groups such as minorities and OBCs, who form about 1.2 million votes.
According to a veteran journalist who has been covering the Gond-Lambada conflict for many years, “All three candidates are from the same community, which could potentially split the Gond vote.”
issued May 2, 2024, 22:39 IST
