Bharatiya tribal party weighs options to form poll alliance

Amid the increased attention of political parties towards tribal communities ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) is now appearing to weigh its options.

BTP founder Chhotu Vasava told ET on Friday that myriad parties were approaching him and that he was in talks with them. "If the cap wearers (topiwaley) take away everything, what will remain for us the turban wearers (pagdiwalon)" he said. "Everyone including the AAP, BJP and Congress Sevadaal wear their own caps, but no one really represents us, the tribals who wear the turbans."

Vasava claimed that the AAP was striking a deal with the BJP. "Look at Delhi, the AAP has 62 MLAs but how many MPs did AAP manage to send from there to the Lok Sabha? There is a clandestine understanding between them," he said.

Vasava's statement on the AAP assumes significance, as its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had addressed a public rally in May in Bharuch along with Vasava and his son Mahesh Vasava, in what was seen as a signal of an impending poll alliance between the two parties. That expectation had changed after the AAP announced its trial candidate, Arjun Rathva, from Chhota Udepur, reportedly without any consolation with the BTP.

Vasava, arguably the tallest tribal leader of South Gujarat, had parted ways with JD(U), which he had represented in the assembly, after that party joined hands with the BJP. He formed the BTP in 2017. He has worked with the Congress earlier but fell out with the party after the panchayat elections in Rajasthan in 2020.