The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Gond leaders piqued with Congress

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Monday, Nov 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Gond leaders piqued with Congress

S. Harpal Singh

A meeting is planned to chalk out a programme to ‘protect’ the interests of the tribe

ADILABAD: The Congress party does not seem to mind antagonising the dominant Gond tribe in Adilabad district as is apparent from the two recent incidents over which the latter have come to umbrage.

A meeting of all Gond leaders irrespective of party allegiance to chalk out a programme to ‘protect’ the interests of the tribe has been planned soon after the Khanapur Assembly level meeting of November 16.

Discussions will centre around the unceremonious replacement of Thodsam Chandu, a Gond, with a Lambada officer as Assistant Project Officer (APO) of Utnoor’s Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and on the issue of leaders from this primitive tribe being ‘overlooked’ by Congress party at its Boath (ST) Assembly constituency level meeting of November 12.

No Gond leader was given a chance to speak at the meeting in question though three Lambada leaders were allowed to do the same.

The Gonds are likely to revive their demand for categorisation of the Scheduled Tribes in the light of being ‘slighted’ by the ruling party.

They will also raise the demand for allocation of tickets to Gonds from any three of the four ST seats (3 Assembly and 1 Parliament) in Adilabad district.

Congress leaders in the district say two seats each will be allocated to Gonds and Lambadas to strike a balance.

However, statistics related to population of these tribes and their development should not be ignored when making a decision on allocation of tickets.

The demand for tickets to three ST seats will be based on the fact that Gonds and other smaller primitive tribes outnumber Lambadas by 3:1 in a total tribal population of over 4 lakhs in Adilabad district.

In the last byelection to Khanapur (ST) constituency, the Gond candidate of Congress party had lost by a thin margin to the Lambada candidate of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Gonds of all political hues had voted for the Conress candidate and their vote was supposed to signify their preference for categorisation of STs.

Unless the Congress comes out with a ‘placatory’ formula for the primitive tribe, there is a chance that it will also be branded anti-Gond like in the case of TDP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

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