- Voters angry with veteran leaders, currently seem silent
- One third of voters don’t want to open their cards now
Dharmendra Pandey, Mandala
Among the 3 assemblies of this tribal dominated district, Niwas Assembly Constituency is very important, because Niwas Assembly Constituency is the stronghold of Union Minister and Mandla MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, but also his ancestral village in Khinha Ripta village is in Niwas Assembly Constituency. Here only 74 percent tribal voters elect their MLA. Presently, Dr. Ashok Marskole is the MLA from Congress. In the 2018 assembly elections, Ashok Marskole had hoisted the Congress flag by defeating Rampyare Kulaste, brother of Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste.
In the last assembly elections, Ashok Marskole got 91 thousand i.e. 47.94 percent votes, while BJP’s Rampyare Kulaste got 62 thousand 692 i.e. 33.02 percent votes. Independent candidate Ramu Lal Kulaste got 21 thousand 852 votes. Whereas, Anita Uike, who tried her hand on the BSP ticket, got 3 thousand 715 votes. According to the last election, there are a total of more than 2 lakh 40 thousand voters in Niwas assembly constituency.
Migration for employment is a big issue – Industrial area is established in Niwas assembly constituency which is situated in Maneri. Most of the factories and industries are owned by businessmen from Jabalpur and surrounding areas, where people from outside are employed or the work is done with machines. Due to the apathy of the public representatives, there is no means available for employment even at the local level, due to which a large number of tribals migrate with their families in search of employment in other states. There is a lot of resentment among the people here due to there being no means of employment.
Local people not getting work in the industrial factories of Maneri falling in Niwas Assembly is also an issue. Work is going on on a large scale on the Chutka Nuclear Plant Scheme in the Niwas Vidhan Sabha itself. Here also the local people are not getting employment. The water of Bargi Dam is spread widely in this area, where earlier fishermen used to find their means of livelihood. Due to this tradition this employment has now been lost. Due to many such discrepancies, voters are very angry with the senior leaders and currently seem to be silent.
No management of forest produce – Congress MLA Ashok Marskole says that there is a store of forest produce under the Niwas Assembly, but the administration and the government are not able to manage the forest produce properly. The MLA says that teak trees are being planted in most of the areas, ignoring the traditional and natural forest produce here, due to which not only the traditional forest produce of the tribals is being destroyed, but the identity of their habitat is also being limited.
Lotus can bloom only after giving up family-ism
The reaction of the residents of the Niwas assembly regarding the work of the Congress MLA is mixed. There are one-third voters in the assembly constituency who do not want to open their cards now. Obviously, at the time of elections they will decide to whom their vote will go. However, most of the people say that if BJP has to win the Niwas assembly seat, then it will have to give up its attachment with the Kulaste family and give the ticket to some other candidate. The silence of the voters may lead to the search for a third option like local elections.
Main contender
Ashok Marskole, Chain Singh Barkade are the two names being brought out again and again by the Congress in the Niwas. Bhupendra Barkade is known as a good candidate of Congress, currently he is silent. It is being said that he is planning to move ahead from Gondwana. District Panchayat members from BJP are Jagat Maravi, Rampyar Kulaste, Ved Prakash Kulaste, who are related to the same family. Dr. Vijay Sarbate, brother-in-law of Union Minister Kulaste, is also in the race for the ticket.
