A year since the beginning of their campaign for the expulsion of the Lambada tribe from the Scheduled Tribes list, the Adivasis in Telangana are looking forward to the Assembly election to help the movement gain political currency. No political party, however, has paid the kind of attention that the nine aboriginal tribes expect to get for their demand.
Though the old Warangal and Khammam districts have a sizeable presence of Adivasis, the movement is strongest in the erstwhile united Adilabad district, which encompasses three of the dozen Assembly constituencies in the State reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
The Adivasi organisations participating in the anti-Lambada campaign, the largest of them being the Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samiti, better known as Tudum Debba, have been demanding that political parties field Adivasi candidates from these constituencies.
The organisations are trying to forge unity among the tribes to succeed in their endeavour.
Balancing act
In old Adilabad, the trend among political parties has been to field two Lambada and two Adivasis candidates from the Asifabad, Khanapur and Boath Assembly constituencies and the Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency.
The first to disappoint the Adivasi organisations was the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which has fielded again its MLAs in the dissolved Assembly, which has Lambadas in two of the three seats. Going by their mood, their antagonism towards the TRS has only increased.
The tribes are also cut up with the Congress as it has so far not come out with a stand on their demand; nor has it assured them of fielding Adivasi candidates from all the three constituencies. There are indications that the Opposition party will keep the trend of striking a balance by fielding a Lambada candidate from Khanapur, its stronghold.
In the seven elections held since 1978, Lambada candidates won from Khanapur six times. This despite Adivasi voters outnumbering the Lambadas, a fact which the Tudum Debba never fails to point out as justification for allotting them the seat.
According to independent estimates, there are 63,000 Adivasi voters against the 25,000 Lambadas in the Khanapur constituency, which has a total electorate of 1,85,235.
The tribes were in a mood to field an Independent candidate, but finally, they have declared support for the BJP candidate, Satla Ashok.
In Asifabad and Boath, the BJP has fielded candidates from the Raj Gond tribe and the Congress has also “indicated” it will do the same. Asifabad and Boath have an electorate of 1,84,057 and 1,80,713, respectively, of which Adivasis number over 60,000 and 40,000 against the 25,000 and 15,000 Lambadas.
