Chhattisgarh elections: Lingering anger from Narayanpur communal clash may sway Bastar

Narayanpur/ Kondagaon/Kanker: It is 10am, and in the densely forested district of Narayanpur, around a dozen tribal youth -- one carrying a traditional axe and the others saffron Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flags --march towards Edka village. The man carrying the axe, 23-year-old Nanu Nag, is in charge, barking out orders to the rest on where to install the party paraphernalia.

The Narayanpur seat has always had a peculiar politics. It is home to the hills of Abhujhmad, where the top echelons of the banned CPI (Maoist) live in hiding in an area of 4,000 square kilometres only just beginning to be mapped by the government. But outside of Abhujhmad, there is a vibrant election, with two old candidates up against each other -- the Congress MLA Chandan Kashyap, and former BJP state minister Kedar Kashyap -- and one searing issue, new in its ferocity. “There is a wave for Kedar Kashyap,” Nag said. Next to him, Raju Dugga, flag in hand, identifies why. “The Congress has supported vishwasis (tribals that have converted to Christianity) and not tribals in the dispute between the two. Now they will pay,” he said.

The clash Fourteen kilometres away from the district headquarters of Narayanpur is the village of Gorra, inside a dense forest. The majority of the villagers are Gond tribals, but 80 of the 200 families are Christians. It’s a split that has festered tension in the area. On December 31, 2022, there was a minor altercation between the two communities, with some villagers suffering injuries. The next day, the issue snowballed. The tribals called a meeting of the two communities, with the Edka police station in-charge also in attendance. Despite the police presence, there was a fresh altercation, this time much more serious. Police officers said that the tribals were outnumbered, and were beaten with sticks.

The following day, on January 2, the tribal community and right-wing groups held a protest at the Narayanpur district headquarters. Hundreds of young people from nearby villages, and even districts such as Kondagaon, Kanker and Bastar collected, and the leaderless mob turned violent, attacking churches, and in the melee, superintendent of police Sadananad Kumar suffered head injuries.

The police booked over 100 people from both communities for rioting, but worryingly for the incumbent Congress, both seemed to take affront at the state government’s response. The tribals say that only they were targeted in investigations. The Christians say that they were abandoned. Cut to October 26, and with less than 10 days to go for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh elections, where 20 seats (including all 12 in Bastar range) will go to the polls on November 7, the Congress is attempting to mitigate damage. The area is crucial, for the Congress swept 11 of the 12 seats in Bastar in the 2018 elections, on their away to their 68-seat tally in the 90-member state assembly. As of now, the Congress holds all 12 seats, winning Dantewada in a bypoll after the death of the sole BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi in a Maoist attack in April 2019.

Anger among communities About 50km away from Narayanpur district headquarters, in a weekly haat-bazaar in the village of Pala which comes under the neighbouring Kondagaon constituency, one young local talks in a loud, angry voice. His village has both tribals and “vishwasis” in equal number, and the latter were thus far loyal Congress voters. “But this time, we have not decided, and are waiting for the leaders to decide who to vote for. When the clash happened, our MLA Mohan Markam never even clarified his stand. We will not vote for the BJP for sure, but whether we will vote for the Congress or the CPI is still up for debate. We may yet boycott the elections,” he said.

A few kilometres away, Ram Singh Vadde, sarpanch of the tribal Gohada village, under the Keshkal assembly seat, says that many from the community could turn towards the BJP. “My village has basically been dominated by the Congress but this time I am not able to predict where they will go. The young are not happy after the Narayanpur incident. First time voters in particular are not happy, and seem to be inclined towards the BJP,” he said.

Former Congress President Mohan Markam, who was replaced as the party’s state president in July 2023, and is the sitting Kondagaon MLA, says that the issue was being overblown by the BJP. “The BJP is highlighting this as an issue but it will have no impact. Our government has implemented what it said in the manifesto and we will form government again,” he said.

A former minister and former BJP candidate from Narayanpur, Kedar Kashyap,who has led the campaign against “conversion”, says that the issue was one of the prime reasons for anger against the government. “Tribals have been illegally converted and the government was quiet. There is distrust against them,” he said.

State of playPolitical leaders from both parties say that the issue can affect at least five seats in Bastar, particularly the districts in the northern belt ofthe 12-seat region -- Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Keshkal, Antagarh and Kondagaon. In Narayanpur, which has 179,487 voters, the Congress is worried about losing support in and around the district headquarters, an old cache of support. “There are around 20,000 Christian votes and a large proportion are unhappy with us. They have been telling us the Congress did not help them before or after the conflict,” a Congress leader said.

Another hurdle in front of the incumbent party is that the CPI has fielded Phool Singh Kachlami, a Christian. “Some of us have decided to vote for Kachlami, and if he gets votes from all of us, he could beat both the BJP and the Congress,” said a pastor from Narayanpur. In 2018, Chandan Kashyap defeated the BJP’s Kedar Kashyap with a margin of 2,647 votes.

In the Chitrakot assembly seat, from where the state Congress president and member of Parliament Deepak Baij is contesting, there is some residual anger from the incident in neighbouring Narayanpur. “Baij has been working hard to pacify tribal leaders, and we hope that with his new found heft as party president, it will be enough,” a Congress leader said.

A BJP leader from the area said that the battle in Chitrakot will go down to the wire. “There is a new candidate in Chitrakot from the BJP, and the party and the RSS is backing him. If there is no internal struggle, he will run Baij close given the Congress has infighting of its own because sitting MLA Rajman Benjam has been replaced,” he said, asking not to be named.

The other high-profile seat is Kondagaon, the bastion of former Congress president Mohan Markamwho was replaced by Baij. In 2018, Markam won by a margin of 1,796 votes. “There are around 150,00 Christians in the constituency, mostly in the rural parts. They may vote for the Sarva Adivasi Samaj candidate Gyanprakash Korram,” one tribal leader said.

“It is a difficult ten days ahead, and the results could be a surprise.”