Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJD) which had startling victory in Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha early this year, largely due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive campaign across the state; — seems to be working on a specific agenda to continue in power in the province for a long period.An indication of the saffron party’s “long-term political vision and strategy” for Odisha came when chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi called for winning all the 33 Lok Sabha and five Lok Sabha seats reserved for the scheduled tribes (STs). While addressing a gathering of newly elected ST MLAs and Lok Sabha members here at Jayadev Bhawan, Majhi said the BJP’s marvelous show in the assembly and Lok Sabha polls revealed the party’s growing acceptance among the tribals. Of the five reserved Lok Sabha seats, the BJP won four while it bagged 18 of the 33 ST assembly seats early this year. “Tribal people of Odisha have always stood with us. This time, they have shown greater faith in our policy and governance principles. We must work hard for the welfare of these people,” said Majhi. Panchayati raj minister Rabi Narayan Naik, who is a prominent tribal leader hailing from Sambalpur district, on Sunday went a few steps further towards strengthening of party’s tribal vote bank when he announced that the state government would soon implement the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. Popularly known as PESA Act, the law ensures self-governance through traditional Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas of India. Scheduled Areas are areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Scheduled Areas are found in ten states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which have predominant population of tribal communities. “We will soon implement the PESA Act which will protect tribals against exploitation, land-grabbing bids and ensure better living for them,” the minister said. He claimed that the population of the tribals was declining. Of the 4.5 crore population of Odisha, 22.85 per cent belongs to tribal communities. Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram called upon the elected BJP MLAs and MP to adopt at least one constituency to increase the party’s vote share in the 2029 polls. “I have a formula on how to increase our vote bank. All our elected lawmakers should adopt at least one constituency and nourish them so that we can reap rich electoral benefits in the 2029 polls,” said Oram.
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