For the fourth time in as many years, Kurmis in West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha have revived their agitation for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. As the assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled next year, the fresh agitation targeting the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government is likely to have an impact on polls.The call of Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS) for the rail and road blockade over their demands of shifting the Kurmi community into STs from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) on Saturday received a response in Jharkhand and West Bengal, even after the Calcutta High Court on September 18 declared the protest programme of the Kurmis as “illegal and unconstitutional”.Why this fresh agitation?The Adivasi Kurmi Samaj, an umbrella organisation for the community, had called for an indefinite rail and road blockade in Jhargram, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, and Purulia districts of West Bengal from September 20, apart from calls of protests in parts of neighbouring Jharkhand and Odisha. They had staged similar agitation in the past as well. Both in 2022 and 2023, Kurmis agitated on the issue and blocked roads and rail stations in Bengal. In 2023, from April 5 to April 10, Kurmis had blocked national highways and rail stations in Bengal demanding ST status and inclusion of their language ‘Kurmali’ in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. On May 17, 2024, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with representatives of the Kurmi community and promised to look into their demands.About this fresh agitation, Adivasi Kurmi Samaj’s state youth president Parimal Mahato told The Indian Express, “The call for this agitation today had been given five months back. There is nothing new and it is part of the agitation going on since 1950.” Mahato said that they have been writing to the state government for the past six months.Adivasi Kurmi Samaj claims that in 1931, Kurmis were categorised as STs, but were ousted from the ST list in 1950 without a notification.In Jharkhand, BJP ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) supported the call, and party president Sudesh Mahto and other party leaders joined the agitation in different parts of Jharkhand on Saturday. Sudesh Mahto joined the rail blockade at Muri station in Ranchi district.Also in Explained | Videshi’ in one’s own country: Understanding India’s internal diasporasWho are Kurmis?Story continues below this adKurmis were included among the communities classified as STs in the 1931 Census and were excluded from the ST list in 1950. In 2004, the Jharkhand government recommended that the community be added to the ST list rather than be categorised as OBCs. Kurmis are mainly a peasant community, with their population concentrated in the Junglemahal areas or the Chota Nagpur plateau of West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha, and a few bordering areas of Bihar. After 1950, when the Scheduled Tribe list was prepared in independent India, Kudmis did not find a place on it. The Kurmis argue that in the British era, various documents listed them as a tribe and an aboriginal community of India, and they want that identity restored. Also, they claim to follow the religious rituals of STs.What will be the political impact?In West Bengal, the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS) in its agitation is targeting the TMC government, accusing it of not doing enough for the inclusion of Kurmis in the STs. Parimal Mahato accepts that the organisation in West Bengal was targeting TMC, and it will have an impact on the upcoming assembly polls.An analysis of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls shows that out of 40 Assembly seats of Jhargram, Banukra, Paschim Medinipur, and Purulia districts, there was a bipolar contest between TMC and the BJP. TMC won 24 seats while BJP won 16. Leaving one seat of Bhagmundi, where the BJP ally AJSU party was runner-up, the BJP was runner-up on all the seats where TMC had won. Likewise, leaving one seat of Joypur where Congress was runner-up, TMC was runner-up on all other seats where BJP won.Notably, the BJP’s average win margin on its 16 seats was only 6053 votes, and on most of the seats it won by a thin margin only. TMC, however, won its 24 seats with a bigger average margin of 17477 votes. The voting pattern of Kurmi voters can make a difference in the seats on such seats of low margins. With a population of about 50 lakh in West Bengal, Kurmis claim to hold sway in about 30 assembly seats of Jhargram, Banukra, Paschim Medinipur, and Purulia districts of West Bengal.Story continues below this adAnother political aspect is that STs in the state are not in favour of including Kurmi in ST list. With that aspect, if Kurmis vote on the issue of ST status, other STs can vote against the party supporting their demands.In Jharkhand, Kurmis are in sizable numbers in the regions of Palamu, North Chotanagpur, South Chotanagpur, and Kolhan. In Bihar, they have a presence in the districts of Purnia, Katihar, and Araria districts and they have family relations with the OBC Kurmi in Jharkhand. While 80 percent of them survive on farming, nearly 20 per cent of the population is in jobs and business, a RJD leader in Bihar said.