Rahul Gandhi's Beneshwar rally connects tribal communities of three states

UDAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi's visit to Beneshwar in southern Rajasthan after the Nav Sankalp rally had a political message. This address to tribals a day after the end of chintan shivir is being considered important as tribals have been the traditional vote bank of the Congress. In the past years, the BJP and the local parties, primarily the BTP, has been able to make a dent in Congress bastion.
The Congress suffered heavy losses in the last assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
After the rise of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), the Congress suffered heavy losses in the tribal-dominated seats of Banswara-Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and Udaipur. BTP had won two seats in the last elections. The BTP has recently announced an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat. This is a matter of concern for the Congress in the forthcoming elections as the alliance can cause a big loss to the party.
The meeting at Beneshwar Dham has sent out a strong political message in the tribal dominated area. In 2019, prior to the Lok Sabha elections, AICC president Sonia Gandhi had addressed a meeting at Beneshwar Dham. The party however did not win a single seat.
Beneshwar Dham is an important centre of tribal faith. Apart from southern Rajasthan, tribals of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh also have reverence for Beneshwar Dham. By holding a meeting at Beneshwar, the Congress has sent a message across to the tribals of the three states.
Rahul's recently held a meeting in Dahod keeping in view the Gujarat polls within a year. In the recently concluded chintan shivir, a decision to reach out to people was taken under the outreach programme and the meeting at Beneshwar Dham is the beginning of the Congress' people connect programme.