Visakhapatnam: Adivasis of Andhra Pradesh are planning to tie up with Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and contest all the seven ST Assembly constituencies and the lone Lok Sabha constituency in the ensuing elections.
BAP had been formed on September 10 last year. It has won three assembly seats in Rajasthan and one in Madhya Pradesh in the recent elections.
A team of six leaders from Bharat Adivasi Party arrived at Jangareddygudem on December 30 last year and held talks with the local leaders. Party’s vice president Sanga Lal and social media in-charge Devi Lal told local leaders how tribals in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have responded to their call and won three seats in Rajasthan and one in MP.
Convener of Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Andhra Pradesh Rama Rao Dora, who led the AP team, said issues and problems of Adivasis are common in all the Indian states. Hence, it is necessary to jointly fight for rights at the central level, for which all Adivasis in the country should come under one political party.Said Dora
“They gave us the option of forming a separate party and have an alliance with them, or join the party directly. We will take a decision on February 2 and announce it in a public meeting at Paderu.”
The JAC convener said after joining the party, Adivasis will go to polls with the slogan “Jal, Jungle and Jameen.”
He maintained that local Adivasis have lost trust in leaders, who have become puppets in the hands of national and regional parties. He pointed out that local leaders did not have the courage to raise their voice when the YSRC government passed a resolution in the assembly proposing to add Boya Valmiki community in the ST list. They have also remained mum on violations of the 1/70 Act, misuse of sub-plan funds and illegal mining in tribal areas.
