The fight for of Aarey’s crucial adivasi votes

MUMBAI: Even though he could garner only 3,857 votes in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha election on an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket, tribal rights activist Vitthal Lad is back in the fray, this time as an independent candidate, in Jogeshwari East. But this time round, he faces a strong adversary who has the support of the adivasis – local strongman and MVA candidate Anant ‘Bala’ Nar from the Shiv Sena (UBT), who hopes to ride on the coattails of the current popularity of Amol Kirtikar, who lost to Ravindra Waiker from the Shiv Sena in the last Lok Sabha polls. Lad is hopeful too, that the disdain for Waikar, whose wife Manisha is the Shiv Sena candidate, will swing the adivasi votes his way.
“I came to Mumbai from a small village in Kolhapur when I was 18 years old, in 1982, aspiring to be a teacher,” said Lad, in an interview to HT. “But soon I felt that the job was restricting me from the work I wanted to do for the poor. So, I shifted my focus to work for the slums and the adivasis.”
Over the years, he has been tirelessly working for their cause – maintaining communal harmony during the 83/84 riots, helping start schools and clinics in Aarey, fighting for the recognition of the 222 Adivasi padas, working for the slums during his master’s in social work from the Nirmala Niketan College in New Marine Lines.
His work, he says, has brought him recognition and love. “The people have collected the ₹10,000 deposit for the nomination. They had largely funded my 2019 campaign, too. I cannot let them down.”
Explaining the issues faced by the adivasis which he wants to tackle, he said, “Aarey is a place of heritage, and it should stay that way, with no buildings or development. The adivasis live in harmony with the ecosystem around them and are codependent on each other. This should be allowed to continue as it is their ancestral right, and Aarey is the green lungs of Mumbai.”
However, although he has set his eyes on long-term goals for the welfare of the adivasis, Lad has not been able to convince them. Despite his decades-long work, he admits the adivasis favoured Waikar in 2019 giving him 60.9% of their votes. Even in 2014, Waikar got 45.1% of the vote share. However, brushing it off, Lad said, “Voting for Waikar again would be like committing suicide for the adivasis.”
Akash Bhoir, an adivasi from Habalepada, said, “Lad will get the support of his organisation only, as we have not seen much of his work here.” But, in the same breath, he also said that they want a change in the government. “And Lad cannot do that, can he?”
Fellow adivasi from Khadakpada Bharat Choudhary echoed his views. “We voted for Waikar in 2019 because he was with the undivided Shiv Sena, and we had no other choice. But after the split of the Sena, and their alliance with the BJP, we do not want them in power. There is the perception that the BJP does not listen to anyone, and they want to develop Aarey.” Affirming that they will vote for Bala even though many have heard his name for the first time this election, he gave the reason behind it. “Because he is with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and their response has been positive towards us.”
The adivasis’ animosity to Manisha Waikar, the present Mahayuti candidate, stems from their distrust of her alliance’s plans for “development of the area.” “Waikar has done no work for us in all these years,” said Bhoir. “They want to shift us, the indigenous adivasis, out from here to buildings, which is our biggest fear. We do not want this at all.”
Manisha Waikar, however, was quick to dispel these allegations. “We cannot shift them out of Aarey if that is what they prefer. That authority lies with the Aarey Dairy department,” she said. “But we will work on improving the cleanliness in their area, as they live amidst garbage and poor drainage. My goal for the entire Jogeshwari is to make it clean.”
The opposition candidate, Bala, was far more vociferous in his support for the adivasi land claim. “The adivasis need amenities to improve their living conditions. But they also need some sense of security for the forest lands they live and depend on for farming. The vast encroachment in the padas needs to be checked and the encroachers rehabilitated in buildings, without disturbing the adivasis. This is what we will work on,” he asserted.