Arvind Netam, a prominent tribal leader from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region and former Union Minister, will be the chief guest at a national-level Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event in Nagpur.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Arvind Netam, a prominent tribal leader from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region and former Union Minister, will be the chief guest at a national-level Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event in Nagpur later this week.  

At the annual ‘Karyakarta Vikas Varg Dwitiya Samapan Samaroh’, a volunteers’ event scheduled to be held in Nagpur’s Reshmibagh on June 5, Mr. Netam will be sharing the stage with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, according to the invitation letter.

While Mr. Netam, a former Congressman, has categorically denied that the latest development has anything to do with his next political move, it has generated considerable buzz in the State because the ‘Karyakarta Vikas Varg Dwitiya Samapan Samaroh’ is an important event in the RSS calendar. Its significance was further underlined in 2018 when former President, the late Pranab Mukherjee, attended it as the chief guest. 

Quit Congress in 2023

After quitting the Congress in 2023, Mr. Netam – who was a Minister in the Union governments led by Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narsimha Rao in the past – floated his own party Hamar Raj. The party fielded candidates in the 2023 Assembly election and is understood to have caused some damage to the then ruling Congress in the Bastar region. However, since that election, he has maintained a quiet presence.  

The RSS invitation came as a surprise to Mr. Netam himself. “I have had few interactions with the RSS in the past. However, four to five months ago, I met Mr. Bhagwat in Raipur and had a long discussion with him over several issues and perhaps that could have contributed to them choosing me as the chief guest,” Mr. Netam told The Hindu. 

RSS’ national publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said Mr. Netam was invited as a social worker. “He is a person who is doing social work in tribal areas, especially in Bastar, and he is doing good work to promote the tribal traditions there, that is why we have called him,” he said.  

Tribal outreach

While observers say that Mr. Netam’s scheduled participation is a move to widen the RSS’ tribal outreach in a State where a third of its population are tribals, Mr. Netam said he would use the opportunity to discuss issues that were critical to the tribal communities.  He added that such discussions were important because unless one convinced the RSS, such concerns might not “percolate into the policies of the governments”. 

“The BJP has formed the government at the Centre and in several States, including Chhattisgarh. So I am told that unless you convince the RSS, the BJP is not going to entertain any suggestion or representation from us as a community. This is only possible with mutual discussion. We want to know from the Sangh what will be the role of the tribal community after their displacement due to industrialisation and mining,” he said. 

The octogenarian added that he was against religious conversions that were “happening rapidly” in the Bastar region. “We will seek help from the RSS on how to check the problem with the help of others. This is our approach,” he said. While conversions have been one of the key issues raised by the BJP and RSS leaders in Bastar in the recent past, Mr. Netam’s recent stance is a departure from his stand a couple of years ago when he emphasised the need for a consolidated political identity for tribals. 

Asked if the recent event was a prelude to Mr. Netam joining the BJP, a senior leader from Chhattisgarh did not give a reply but said he was a “nationalist leader”. Mr. Netam, however, said there was no question of him joining the BJP as he had retired from active politics.