Rahul Gandhi made two visits to Madhya Pradesh in 12 days. Along with meeting the Baiga tribal families in Balaghat, he also raised the issues of the people affected by the Ken-Betwa project. Due to this, his political activism is in discussion in the state.
Madhya Pradesh: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has increased his activities in Madhya Pradesh. On October 1, he reached Jagla village in Balaghat and met Baiga tribal families. Earlier, he had also raised his voice on the issue of people affected by the Ken-Betwa project. The two tours in 12 days have brought his activism in state politics into the limelight.
Rahul Gandhi reached out on the issue of death of children in Balaghat
The case of death of tribal children in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh has been in discussion for some time. Regarding this issue, Rahul Gandhi visited Jagla village of Birsa block on 1 October. Here he met Baiga tribal families and interacted with relatives who have lost their children during the disease. When he arrived, about 1,500 villagers from the surrounding areas were also present there.
Rahul Gandhi sat among the affected families and listened to their problems. During the conversation, he also asked questions related to health facilities, education, employment, forest rights and benefits of government schemes. He talked about raising this matter in Parliament.
Before reaching Balaghat, Rahul Gandhi had also talked about meeting tribal families and raising their issues in his social media post. During the tour, he raised questions on the government regarding the death of children. These are his political allegations; Different sides have also come forward on this issue from the state government and administration.
Second Madhya Pradesh tour in 12 days
Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Balaghat was also in the news because it was his second visit to Madhya Pradesh within about 12 days. Earlier he had reached Indore on 19 September. During this period, issues related to tribal students and youth also came to the fore.
After this, after reaching Jagla village of Balaghat, Rahul Gandhi directly communicated with the tribal families. In this way, issues related to health, education, employment and tribal rights have featured prominently in his recent activities in Madhya Pradesh.
Tribal issues are important in the politics of the state due to the large tribal population in Madhya Pradesh and the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the Assembly. 47 assembly seats in the state are reserved for ST category.
The issue of Ken-Betwa affected people is also in focus
Rahul Gandhi’s activism related to Madhya Pradesh is not limited to Balaghat only. The issues of the people affected by the Ken-Betwa river linking project have also been his focus. Questions related to land, rehabilitation and compensation have been raised by the affected families.
Protests and objections have also come to light at the local level in Panna area regarding the Ken-Betwa project. In such a situation, the problems of the people affected by the project are being linked to broader questions related to environment, displacement and tribal rights in Madhya Pradesh.
The activities of Rahul Gandhi to take these issues to Delhi and communicate with the affected people have come at a time when various political parties in Madhya Pradesh are increasing their activities at the organizational level.
Political context of Rahul Gandhi’s activism in MP
In Rahul Gandhi’s recent activities, on one hand there is the issue of death of children and tribal health in Balaghat, and on the other hand there are questions about the people affected by the Ken-Betwa project. In both cases, an attempt is seen to raise the problems of local communities at the national level.
However, what impact these tours will have on the political position of BJP or Congress can be assessed only on the basis of future political developments. At present it is clear that Rahul Gandhi has given prominence to the issues of tribal, health, education, employment and displacement related to Madhya Pradesh in his recent public activities.