Guj: Implement Schedule V of Constitution, demands BTP chief

Bharatiya Tribal Party chief Chhotu Vasava Sunday said Schedule V of the Constitution, which allows certain areas with a preponderance of tribal population to be declared as "scheduled areas", should be implemented across the country.

He said it would allow tribals to have rights to their own lands, especially when they are getting displaced in large numbers due to various projects.

"During the construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river, tribals from 526 villages were evacuated. Similarly during the building of the Sardar Patel Memorial at Kevadiya, tribals from 72 villages lost their land. Is it justified," he told PTI.

"Tribals are the real inhabitants of this land and they are being made migrants in the name of development," he claimed.

Vasava, currently an MLA from Jhagadiya, is contesting from Bharuch Lok Sabha seat where he is pitted against the BJP's Mansukh Vasava and Congress' Sher Khan Pathan.

He said the party, which is contesting from seven seats in the state, will have at least one Lok Sabha from Gujarat and three seats from neighbouring Rajasthan.

The party had won two seats in the 2017 Assembly polls in Gujarat.

The BTP will contest from Dahod, Chhota Udepur, Bardoli and Valsad Lok Sabha seats, all reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Ahmedabad West (Scheduled Caste) seat as well as Sabarkantha and Bharuch, both of which have sizable tribal presence.