Today the people of Himachal Pradesh’s tribal belt -a mountainous region comprising the constituencies of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmaur -will be exercising their voting rights. They will do this a month ahead of the state’s remaining 65 constituencies. The excitement in a region dotted by apple orchards and hamlets atop steep hillsides is palpable. Elections are held earlier in order to beat the snowfall. Passes like Kunzam and Rohtang, connecting the cold deserts of Spiti and the snow-bound belts of Keylong, will soon be under a blanket of snow and will be closed for the next six months.

The tribals here, who constitute 3 per cent of the state’s population, are neither “primitive” nor underprivileged. Unlike their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, they are prosperous, innovative and well educated. Given this, it may not be possible for the main political parties in the current fray, the Congress, the BJP, the BSP, to take them for a ride. This time, there are nearly 1.28 lakh voters, some of them located in places like Hikkam — the highest polling booth in the Spiti Valley.

Economic activity, especially in Kinnaur, has grown almost 200 times in less than two decades — and this despite natural calamities like flash floods and landslides. Tribal families here send their children to the best professional institutions, both within and outside the country, for their education. More than three dozen families have relatives occupying senior positions in the civil services. They also don’t stint on personal consumption, as testified by their homes and luxury cars. Says Soman Negi, a branch manager with the State Bank of India at Reckong Peo, “In just four years, the deposits in the branch have increased to Rs 18 crore and customers now ask for facilities like internet banking. We have now installed an ATM. Our annual transactions borders Rs 35 crore even in this small place.”

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