A few months after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot visited the Mangarh Dham, a tribal pilgrimage site, and announced to do development work there using state funds.
Speaking on the occasion, Gehlot said that the state government is making constant efforts to declare Mangarh Dham as a monument of national importance.
“The Central government was repeatedly urged to declare Mangarh Dham as a national monument, but recently the Prime Minister did not announce it even during his visit. In such a situation, if the Central government refuses, the state government will get the development work done in Mangarh using state funds.
“Along with this, a provision has been made to increase the amount of Scheduled Caste-Tribe Development Fund from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore,” Gehlot said.
Political experts, meanwhile, said that the politics on Mangarh Dham will have a political effect on scheduled tribe voters in three states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
Mangarh Dham located in Banswara district is a major pilgrimage site for tribals.
Now, Chief Minister Gehlot has demanded to declare this Dham as a national monument. The seriousness of the politics here can be gauged from the fact that around 100 Assembly seats in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are influenced from this area.
The Congress did not gain much in this area in the last Assembly elections, so this time there is a political tussle between the Congress and the BJP here.
As many as 27 seats in Gujarat, 25 seats in Rajasthan and 48 seats in Madhya Pradesh are directly affected by Mangarh Dham, as all these seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
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