A Question Of Identity

Tribal or not? The court battle over Ajit Jogi’s identity continues.

- Rahul Noronha

Ajit Jogi is not a tribal.” The ruling by the Chhattisgarh tribal welfare department’s high-powered committee (HPC) is raising political temperatures in the state. It is also bound to have other consequences for the state’s politics, with the former chief minister’s new party—the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC)—making tribal identity its central electoral plank in keeping with Jogi’s identification with the community.

Acting on the HPC’s report, the Chhattisgarh government has cancelled Jogi’s ST certificate. Jogi says the ruling is “politically motivated”, and is using the Raman Singh government’s move to claim that his party, and not the Congress, is the ruling BJP’s main adversary in the state. Jogi says he plans to challenge the state government’s decision in court.