The Congress is set to more than double its elected representatives in the seats reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates in the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh while the BJP will see its representation in these seats decline by half as compared to the 2013 Assembly polls.
Of the total 181 seats reserved for candidates from the SC and ST communities in the three states, the Congress has a lead in 108, greatly increasing its count from the existing 42 SC/ST seats.
The BJP is leading in only 59 seats as against it present tally of 128 seats, accounting for minor changes once the final tally is out.
The dramatic switch in seats has been attributed by Dalit rights groups mainly to the Union and BJP state governments’ handling of the April 2 Bharat Bandh to protest the dilution of the of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the bandh had led to mass arrests of several hundreds from the community and claimed 10 lives.
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