Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress of treating tribals as vote bank.

The BJP respects and honors tribals and selection of tribal leader Draupadi Mormu as presidential candidate of BJP and NDA is an example of it, he said.

A tribal woman on elected to the post of president will be the constitutional head of the country and head of three armed forces that would be a proud moment for entire tribal community, he said.

He was addressing a function to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for selecting tribal leader Draupadi Mormu as candidate for president post. The function was organised by the MP unit office of BJP in Bhopal on Thursday.

He acknowledged Modiji efforts to select Mormu as presidential candidate.

Today is a day of celebration for the tribals of Madhya Pradesh, he said.

He said the gram sabha will be empowered to pluck and sell tendu leaves from forest areas this will increase the earnings of the tribals.

The BJP government in the state has worked for welfare of the tribals and is first to allot pattas to tribals in forest areas, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, BJP state president VD Sharma said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee set up first tribal welfare ministry at the centre.

The BJP has taken care of tribals and has worked for the empowerment, he said.

Sharma thanked Modiji for selecting a tribal for the coveted post.

Currently the BJP has 18 tribal MLAs, the party lost many of the reserved seats for tribals in 2018 assembly elections.

After coming to power in March 2020 after a gap of over a year since 2018 assembly elections, the BJP government has taken several path-breaking decisions for welfare of tribals.

The other party leaders were present in the function.