Tribal nominee poses challenge to mainstream parties in Rajasthan bypoll

Quota for tribals in TSP area a major electoral plank in Dhariawad

A tribal youth chosen by community elders to contest as an independent candidate, largely because development issues in the area were ignored, is posing a tough challenge to the mainstream political parties for the Dhariawad Assembly bypoll scheduled for October 30.

Thawarchand Damor, 26, is likely to upset the prospects of half-a-dozen other contestants.

An increase in the reservation for tribals in the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) area is a major electoral plank in the constituency because of high unemployment among youth. The voters feel that successive Congress and BJP governments have ignored the issue, despite its provision in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Instead, they say, “undue benefits” have been extended to other communities, which comprise barely 20% of the region’s population.