By IANS
Ahmedabad : The Narendra Modi government’s move to form a new district comprising tribal areas in south Gujarat was a gimmick ahead of the assembly polls, the opposition Congress said Tuesday.
“We have no plans to protest the move. We will just ignore it,” said Arjun Modhwadia, leader of the opposition in the assembly.
The chief minister Monday announced the formation of the new district while laying the foundation stone for a Rs.23 billion power project at Ukai.
Modi indicated that the new district, the state’s 27th, would come into being Oct 2.
To be called Vyara district, it would include Vyara, Songadh, Ucchal, Nizhar and Vaold sub-districts of Surat district. These areas are pre-dominantly agricultural and sugar is the major industry there with a widespread presence of cooperatives.
Political observers say the chief minister’s move is aimed at neutralizing the rising tide of opposition to his government in Saurashtra region where the dominant castes of Patels and Kolis are up in arms against him.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 38 seats from the region in the 2002 assembly elections – 14 less than what it secured in 1998.
Saurashtra is home to former chief minister Keshubhai Patel who is the rallying point for BJP dissidents in the state.
In a counter-balancing act, Modi has lately been focussing on the tribal regions with his Vanbandhu Kalyan or tribal welfare programme comprising a wide range of development projects involving an outlay of Rs 150 billion.
In the last elections, the BJP secured nine out 20 seats in the tribal areas while the Congress won 11 seats. The tribal belt decides representations in and around 43 assembly segments in central and south Gujarat.
While south Gujarat had always been a bastion of the opposition Congress, the party was routed from the tribal strongholds in districts of Dahod, Panchmahals, Valsad and parts of Anand and Vadodara following the communal violence of 2002.
The Congress has been quietly working to win back the maximum number of seats in the polls due by December and has been emphasising on various schemes introduced by the central government for the benefit of tribals.