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CM, Dy CM’s presence to boost tribal outreach?
RSS underlines the Hindu identity of Banjara community, claims it is fighting against conversion bids targeting them
First India Bureau
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Mumbai: Over 10 lakh visitors from various states have descended on Godri village in Jalgaon district—mostly Banjara tribals representing the Gaur, Naikda and Labana subgroups—for the ongoing Banjara Mahakumbh.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis also attended the six-day affair being held by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sevak (RSS), which began on January 25-30. This is the first-ever such event organized by the RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
With 2024 Lok Sabha polls ahead, many see the Mahakumbh as part of an orchestrated move to woo the nomadic Banjara groups and bring them under the larger Hindu umbrella.
The unstated agenda is checking “the conversion drive” targeting the Banjaras by Christian groups.
According to a senior RSS functionary, “We are relentlessly working to stop the largescale conversion of the Banjaras by Christian missionaries across the country. RSS and allied organizations have convened this Mahakumbh to effectively counter religious conversion.”
Around 3,000 members of the RSS have been deployed to plan and execute the summit. Among those ques- tioning the Sangh push is Haribhau Rathod, a Banjara leader and former BJP MP who recently joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Denying any large-scale conversion bids in Maharashtra, Rathod says: “This is false propaganda. There may have been some cases in Andhra and Telangana, but it’s certainly not an issue in Maharashtra.” In Maharashtra, the Banjara vote bank is believed to play a decisive role in five Lok Sabha seats— Jalgaon, YavatmalWashim, Hingoli, Latur and Dindori—and as many as 44 of the state’s 288 Assembly seats. The community, which is categorized under Vimukta Jati Nomadic Tribe (VJNT), enjoys 3% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in Maharashtra. For the last two decades, they have been demanding reservation under the ST category, which has an 8% quota and larger benefits.
