Elections 2019: How Bharatiya Tribal Party Is Silently Changing Rajasthan's Political Arena

The politics in tribal pockets of Rajasthan is witnessing a change with the emergence of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP). The new entrant in the desert state has come to fore as a strong voice of the neglected and marginalised community. The party is strongly pitching for a separate Bhil Pradesh by carving out the tribal-majority areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Making a foray into the state just three months before the state Assembly election in 2018, the party won two seats and lost three with narrow margins. It had fielded its candidates to take on the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 14 of the 27 tribal-concentrated seats in Rajasthan. NewsClick spoke to its candidates who are contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Udaipur and Dungerpur-Banswara.