Rajasthan party renews demand for a Bhil Pradesh for tribals, BJP leaders slam ‘divisive' move
The BAP founder and Lok Sabha MP from Banswara Rajkumar Roat, who is leading the campaign, said, 'If the government is truly supportive of the interests of tribals, then our long-standing demand for a Bhil Pradesh, which is essential for preserving the existence and identity of the tribal community, must be fulfilled.'
While sharing on social media a proposed map of Bhil Pradesh – which tribal leaders say would include 49 districts across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra – Roat said, 'The demand for Bhil Pradesh has been raised since before Independence as the culture, language, dialect, and customs of the people here are distinct from other regions.'
'In 1913, under the leadership of (social reformer) Govind Guru, more than 1,500 tribals were martyred at Mangarh for the demand of a Bhil Pradesh. After Independence, injustice was done to the people of this region by dividing Bhil Pradesh into four states,' Roat said.
On Thursday, the BAP will also lead a Bhil Pradesh Sandesh Yatra to Mangarh Dham, Banswara, as a step towards 'fulfilling the unfulfilled dreams of our ancestors', Rajkumar Roat said.
BAP national president Mohan Lal Roat said, 'Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution empower Parliament to form new states. When Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh can be created, why not Bhil Pradesh? Three crore of us stand at the threshold of the Constitution – take a decision now or history will judge … We cannot be ruled (anymore) by dividing us.'
Talking to The Indian Express, Mohan Lal Roat said, 'This is not a BAP issue but an issue of the people of the region. Jaipur is about 650 km from here so development is slow to reach. It is still a backward area and so we have been demanding a separate state.'
On July 15, BAP and tribal leaders also submitted a memorandum at their local block offices to push their demand. As per the party president, about 60 blocks were covered in Rajasthan, 44 in Madhya Pradesh, 22 in Gujarat and about half a dozen blocks in Maharashtra, apart from Dadra and Nagar Haveli. He said this is an annual practice that has been ongoing for the last decade every July 15.
'The Constitution has also given special provisions to tribals for conservation of our languages and customs, and demanding a separate state is our Constitutional right,' he said.
While BJP and Congress leaders in Rajasthan have avoided speaking on the issue – both parties fear alienating tribals, especially in the state's tribal-dominated Vagad region – veteran BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said, 'The conspiracy to break the pride, honour, and glory of Rajasthan will never succeed. The so-called 'Bhil Pradesh' map released by Rajkumar Roat is a shameful political stunt. It is not only an attack on the unity of glorious Rajasthan but also an attempt to spread confusion in the name of the tribal community and gain cheap popularity.'
'If someone is talking about Bhil Pradesh today, and tomorrow someone demands Maru Pradesh, will we divide our splendid history, heritage, and pride into pieces like this?' he said, adding that the map released by Roat 'falls under the category of treason against the state'.
State BJP spokesperson Laxmikant Bhardwaj said, 'They are doing it of their own accord, there is no such demand or support for this from the public. They are misleading people to gain political ground; their divisive agenda is to serve their own political interests.'
Congress leaders in Rajasthan, meanwhile, said it is a 'national issue as it covers multiple states and hence, it is for the party's national leadership to address.'
While this Bhil Pradesh demand is made annually, it becomes louder with each passing year, and currently the BAP and Rajkumar Roat have become its most vocal proponents.
Since the BAP's creation, tribals in the region have been consolidating under Roat through its propagation of the sentiment that the Congress and BJP have only used tribals for 'selfish ends'. The party was formed in September 2023 out of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), which had two MLAs in Rajasthan in the previous Congress government. One of the BAP's chief aims, like the BTP, is the creation of a Bhil Pradesh.
From the BTP's two MLAs in Rajasthan, the BAP now has four MLAs and one MP, with Roat defeating Congress rebel turned BJP candidate Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The latest move also helps the party tide over recent bad press over the arrest of its Bagidora MLA, Jaikrishn Patel, who was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau in May for allegedly accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe for dropping three mining-related questions in the Rajasthan Assembly.
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