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Eyeing the assembly polls in Gujarat this year, and Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh next year, will the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to the tribal belt of Rajasthan declare ‘Mangarh’ as a ‘National Monument Status’ to honour the Bhil caste’s freedom fighters and 1500 martyrs ? Or Will the Prime Minister’s visit to Mangarh Dham on November 1 enable the BJP to woo tribal voters for Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh ?
The demand to declare Mangarh Dham a national monument by locals and representatives of the tribal/tribal-dominated areas of Banswara and Dungarpur has been a long pending one.
However, it is only the ruling Congress government in Rajasthan that has urged the Central government many times to get ‘National Monument Status’ for Mangarh Dham in Banswara district to pay rich tribute to the supreme sacrifice of the tribals and the contribution of Shri Govind Guru.
In his appeal and letters to the PM, CM Ashok Gehlot said that in 1913, during the freedom struggle more than 1.5 lakh Bhils rallied at Mangarh Hill on 17th November 1913, the British Army opened fire on the tribals who had gathered under the leadership of Shri Govind Guru in Mangarh of Banswara district, in which over 1500 of them sacrificed their lives.
Now on November 1, the PM will attend a public programme on “Mangarh Dham Ki Gaurav Gatha” at Mangarh Hill to pay homage to the sacrifices of the unsung tribal heroes and martyrs of the freedom struggle. The PM will also pay homage to Bhil caste’s freedom fighter Shri Govind Guru and address a gathering of Bhil Adivasis and other tribal population of the region.
Rajasthan assembly has 25 reserved seats of ST, Gujarat 27 and MP 47, and since Mangarh Dham is touching three states’ borders, every political party wants to gain the voters by raising the issue of Mangarh Dham demanding its National Monument status.
The Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are likely to share the dias with PM as Mangarh is of historical and religious uniqueness for tribals of three states on Rajasthan border of Banswara. As the assembly polls are in near future in Gujarat, and next year in MP and Rajasthan, BJP is constantly working to woo and lure the tribal votes.
In Rajasthan, out of 200 MLAs, 33 MLAs belong to tribal community (Scheduled Caste), and of which two MLAs Rajkumar Rot and Ram Prasad are from the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and they have supported the Gehlot government during the crisis in 2020 and 2021.
When contacted Ram Prasad Dindore, a BTP MLA, told SNS on Sunday, the PM’s proposed visit on November 1 was sheer a part of ‘vote bank politics’ and that has nothing to do with the welfare of tribals in the states. “Has any government identified the martyrs of Mangarh dham’ so far, and their predecessors,” Dindore asked.
“BJP can bring the crowd by financial management in the rally for the PM, but it would not pay any benefit as the BTP will further score in Rajasthan in next assembly polls-2023”, he alleged.
“If the National Monument Status is given to the Mangarh Dham, the tourism will boost besides the life standards of bhil community people, and the infrastructure will be developed in this particular area”, BTP MLA replied when asked about the probable benefits of monument status.
Meanwhile, Satish Poonia, BJP State President, said the BJP had got 8 tribal MLAs from the region, and the party planned to woo more and more support from the tribal people in the next assembly and LS polls in 2024.
Before PM’s visit, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also attended the BJP’s OBC National Executive Meeting in Jodhpur on September 8 to mobilise and unite voters of OBC in Chief Minister Gehlot’s bastion. In the last assembly polls-2018, out of 29 assembly seats in Jodhpur, Nagaur, Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, BJP had won only five seats.
On September 29, Prime Minister on his two days tour to Gujarat from Surat to Ambaji made a stop over at Abu Road in Rajasthan before midnight where thousands of BJP workers and scores of senior leaders including Vasudhara Raje, senior MPs and MLAs welcomed him. Then, the PM had promised to come back to Rajasthan soon.
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