RANCHI - With an eye to the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections, the Congress party is keen to woo the tribals and Dalits of the state who constitute a sizeable chunk of the population. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will pay a two-day visit to the state from Wednesday.

In a first step to woo the tribal and Dalits, the central government has decided to withdraw around 100,000 cases related to the forest. Majority of the forest cases were pending against tribals and Dalits, who reside near forest areas.

The cases include stealing fruit from the forest, cutting wood, grazing cattle, hunting and entering the reserved forests without permission.

The Congress and central government have termed it as a move to win the hearts of poor people to mobilise them against Maoist rebels.

After his arrival here Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi will attend an Adivasi Yuva Sammelan (AYS - tribal youth meeting) in Sahebganj district, while on Thursday he will attend a Dalit convention at Chatra, and another AYS in West Singhbhum district.

During his visit, the Congress leader will also meet the potential candidates of the assembly elections and participate in the Youth Congress programme.

In Jharkhand, tribal and Dalits together constitute around 38 percent of the population. The Congress presence in tribal and Dalit populated areas is not as strong as that of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

JMM chief Shibu Soren, popularly known as Guruji, commands strong backing among the tribal people. It was Soren who fought for the cause of tribals and against their repression. The BJP also succeeded in making a dent among the tribal and Dalits in Jharkhand and the party won a majority of the reserved seats in the assembly and Lok Sabha.

However, so far the Congress has failed to become a partner of the tribals and Dalits. Since the formation of Jharkhand, all the state Congress presidents have been Christians, which perhaps alienated the tribals, say political experts.

Christian missionaries have a strong presence in the state. The converted Christians, however, constitute three to four percent of the total population. The tribal society views the converts as a threat.

The converted tribals continue to enjoy the benefits of reservation and other facilities extended to the Scheduled Tribes by the state and central governments. On many occasions, tribals have demanded a religious code so that converted members are treated as a separate entity.

Jharkhand is under President’s rule since Jan 19.