KURMIS TAKE A STAND

Unhappy with the state and Centre for not granting them ST status, the community will fight independently in several seats they helped the BJP win in 2019

- Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Disillusioned by the "false promises" of the Union and state governments to grant them Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, the Kurmi community has decided to field its own candidates in West Bengal for the impending Lok Sabha election. Their dominant presence in the four districts of Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Jhargram and Bankura-collectively known as Jangalmahal-make them a deciding or important factor in polls. If they constitute 65 per cent of the population in Purulia, they are 42 per cent, 17 per cent and 18 per cent in Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur and Bankura, respectively.

The decision is significant because members of the community voted en masse for the BJP in the 2019 general election, helping it sweep the Bankura, Bishnupur, Jhargram, Medinipur and Purulia seats for the first time, contributing significantly to the party's tally of 18 out of the state's 42 seats, and cementing its place as the chief opposition in Bengal.