Vedanta plans scuppered as Rahul Gandhi champions tribals' cause

Economic Times. Aug 27, 2010
BHUBANESWAR: It was a classic case of David turning into Goliath almost overnight. Less than two days after the environment ministry rejected Vedanta’s bid to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa, the odds swung heavily in favour of the ancient Dongria Kondh tribe when Rahul Gandhi congratulated them on their victory and promised to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their fight against injustice. In the process, he also unfolded his party’s biggest tribal outreach initiative in recent memory.


“Your voice reached Delhi and you saved your land. I did what I could, but this is your victory,” Mr Gandhi said as he congratulated the tribal community for making its voice heard without resorting to violence. “Two years ago, I had told a gathering here that for the tribals of Kalahandi, there is a soldier in Delhi named Rahul Gandhi. My work is not finished, it has just begun. Whenever you need me, wherever, I am ready to stand with you,” he said amid loud cheers from his audience.

Mr Gandhi’s remarks during the visit to Lanjigarh, where Vedanta’s refinery is located, would make it extremely hard for the London-based MNC to get the Centre to review its decision to stop mining in the area.

For the Congress and for Mr Gandhi, the visit made an important political statement as they reached out to their former vote bank. Tribals , who once formed a significant slice of the Congress’ rainbow coalition , had drifted away from the party in recent years, leading to the party’s marginalisation in vast areas of northern and eastern India.

Rahul Gandhi's combative speech at the foothills of the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi, Orissa, addressing a gathering of tribal people eager to welcome a champion as powerful as ‘Indira’s grandson’, marks a new stage in his political evolution. There comes a time in the career of an heir apparent when appearance takes on the hard edge of reality.

Although the party has been making efforts to win back this social grouping, which account for 8% of the electorate, it has not been finding the right issue to connect with the population. That Mr Gandhi chose to launch the assault from Orissa should come as no surprise.

The party has been out of power in the state for over a decade and knowing that even the most popular of chief ministers, as indeed Naveen Patnaik is, will see their support wither, the Congress feels its time has come. There is also an emotive connect for Congressmen with the state as it was after all in Bhubaneswar that Indira Gandhi vouched, a day before her tragic assassination, that every drop of her blood will invigorate the nation.

In his speech, Mr Gandhi also sought to blunt the anti-development spin given to the Vedanta decision by the industry. “The decision to abandon the project does not mean that the government is against development ... Development means that every citizen of India develops... Our government in Delhi, our prime minister and Soniaji will fight for development and to give you a voice.” In other words, the government at the Centre will not allow industry to trample on citizens’ rights in the name of development.


These assertions of Mr Gandhi are in accord with the growing recognition that a better handling of mineral resources was required, especially in tribal areas, as it could alienate the local population from the mainstream. In her address to the Congress party in Parliament last Thursday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had conceded that reckless decisions over resources have been causing violent conflicts in the hinterland.

“What is most worrying is the high degree of convergence between areas that are mineral and forest-rich and areas that are the arenas for tribal deprivation and for Left-wing extremist violence,” Ms Gandhi had said. The Congress president had also noted that protecting the rights of the tribals and ensuring their livelihood were central to brining about an end to their exploitation and sense of alienation.