Sonaben Pawar, in her late 60s, get agitated at the sight of outsiders visiting houses in Kosim Patal village of Dang district of South Gujarat.
“We have lived all our life here and won’t move out. We won’t allow any dam to submerge our village,” says the elderly woman outside her modest home opposite a church built by the Salvation Army in 2002.
She was echoing the fears of other villagers about a proposed dam and river interlinking project. Of the 311 villages in tribal-dominated Dang district, local people say 37 may be submerged and Kosim Patal, about 35 km from the district headquarters of Ahwa, is one of them.
The majority in this village of 60-odd households are Christians and loyal voters of the Congress. Mangalbhai Gavit, MLA, whose campaign substantially plays on this fear, declares that the river-linking project will be started in the next three months, putting a question mark on Dang’s tribal culture.
“Why can’t they build a dam in another area? Why can’t they bring water from the Narmada dam or the Ukai dam? It is only because they want to ‘destroy’ Adivasi culture,” says Mr. Gavit, while taking a short break from his campaign.
Local people say a shortage of water, especially in the months before the monsoon, is severe in many parts of the district. Yet the BJP candidate, Vijaybhai Patel, plays down the prospects of the dam. “Yes, a survey was done but no final decision has been taken. The Congress is creating a scare,” says Mr. Patel of the BJP, who was once elected from Dang.
In the late 1990s, Dang had once dominated headlines with news about attacks on churches by right-wing outfits and “forced conversions” by Christian evangelists.
Focus on development
The major discourse today is of development or the lack of it. At Kossam Patal, there is power supply, a primary school and a metalled road leading to it.
But most homes are modest kuccha houses, some without electricity connection as the owners cannot afford to pay bill. Phulobhai Pawar’s is one such home.
Phulobhai and his wife, Situ, one of the few Hindu tribal families, are immersed in peeling off the seeds of gram that would be ground to flour.
“We are Congress voters and this time we will back them again,” says Situ Pawar.
The BJP is trying hard to break this loyalty of tribal voters (who make up over 90 per cent) towards the Congress by building all-weather roads, primary schools and primary health centres serving a cluster of villages, providing gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme among others.
So who holds an edge in the forthcoming elections? “I can tell you in my 30 years of political career — from being a panchayat member to an MLA — I have never lost an election. But ultimately, it’s the people’s will,” the Congress MLA says. His challenger, Vijaybhai Patel, is confident that Dang will change its political colour. “They have seen our government’s work and will vote for the BJP,” Mr. Patel says.
