Two days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked all party-ruled states to file review petitions in the Supreme Court against its order to evict tribals and forest land dwellers whose claims had been rejected, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday followed suit.

“I have spoken to all CMs of BJP-ruled states over the situation arising out of Supreme Court’s order on eviction of tribals living in forest areas. The states will soon file review petitions and care will be taken to safeguard the rights of our tribals and prevent eviction,” Shah tweeted on Monday evening amid indications that RSS-affiliate Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) had mounted pressure on the government to act.

Upset with the government’s inaction on the issue for over 10 days after the Supreme Court passed the eviction order, the VKA is of the view that the situation should be reversed either through the promulgation of an ordinance or a review petition.

On the crucial day of the hearing, the counsel for the Centre was not even present in court. Activists pointed out that the Centre’s attitude towards the entire issue was evident from the fact that the Narendra Modi government did not say a word in court in the last four hearings, completely skipping the last one.

In another tweet, Shah said: “The BJP remains committed to the upliftment of our tribal brothers and sisters and we will do everything to protect their rights. I would also urge them to not fall in the trap of rumours from usual suspects.’’