Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) views tribals as vote bank and has no concern with their welfare.
Baghel said this while taking to reporters at the airport here Raipur while proceeding to Kerala to join Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Citing an old letter of former Chief Minister Raman Singh, Baghel said Singh had wanted rectification of the names of tribes in the tribal list saying it could lead to "political gain".
“The letter proves how BJP looks at tribals in state and what these tribals mean for them,” he said.
Commenting on the inclusion of 12 new tribal communities in the tribal list after spelling errors were rectified, Baghel said his government had made stringent efforts for their inclusion and had written several letters to press the demand.
“The BJP ruled the state for 15 long years and what they have done regarding inclusion of these 12 tribal communities is now known to me," he said.