Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third Cabinet reshuffle inadvertently trigger trouble in the tribal areas of Gujarat and other adjoining BJP-ruled States, what with ousted Minister Mansukh Vasava’s supporters threatening to revive the incipient movement for the creation of a separate state of ‘Bhilistan’?

Contiguous tribal-dominated areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — all ruled by BJP governments — have geologically been seen as parts of “Gondwanaland”. It is in many of these areas that Naxalites have often been active to a varying extent.

Unceremonious exit

A BJP veteran and five-time Lok Sabha MP from Bharuch in Gujarat, Vasava was unceremoniously dropped from the Union Cabinet, where he was Minister of State for Tribal Affairs since 2014.

Reacting sharply to his sacking, he claimed that this was the dénouement of letters he wrote to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, asking her to sort out problems in tribal areas, like poor administration, lack of adequate facilities in healthcare and education, etc.

He even slammed the Centre, saying all he wanted was to bring transparency to the manner in which the tribal development ministry worked. “But, unfortunately, I received no support in this direction.” He also described Gujarat as the “worst State in tribal education.”

Vasava had, allegedly, even threatened to resign from the Modi government if conditions did not improve. And his supporters claim he could even leave the BJP to lead the Bhilistan movement for protecting the tribals’ rights.

Separate statehood

If Vasava manages to muster enough support amongst tribals, he may emerge as a major headache for the BJP-run States where a large tribal population exists from which the ‘separate’ State for tribals is sought to be carved out.

Together with simmering Patidar anger, in the wake of last year’s agitation led by Hardik Patel, the OBC agitation led by Alpesh Thakore, the latest Vasava agitation could cost heavily to the BJP, which has been ruling Gujarat now for a quarter of a century.

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