Ahmedabad: ‘Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch’ leader Jignesh Mevani said that he would ask his followers not to vote for the BJP in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met Mevani in Navsari on Friday. Although the Dalit leader did not promise that he would back the Congress, he at least assured Rahul that he would ask his followers not to vote for the BJP.
The 36-year-old Dalit leader, who first hogged the headlines after the incident of thrashing of Dalits in Gujarat’s Una last year, said Rahul assured him that the Congress would incorporate 90 per cent of his demands in their party’s election manifesto.
The closed-door meeting between Rahul and Mevani at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Navsari lasted for about 30 minutes, said the media reports.
“Since the Una incident, we have launched numerous agitations and submitted memorandums. Despite all that, the thick-skinned BJP government, which is not only anti-Dalit but also anti-people, has not considered even one of our demands. They have not bothered to even talk to us”, Mevani told reporters after the meeting.
On the other hand, the Congress patiently heard the demands of the Dalit community and has promised to accept most of them, Mevani added.
Several Dalit youths were flogged in Una in 2016 on the suspicion of cow slaughter when they were skinning a dead animal.
“We had a detailed discussion with Rahulji on our 17 demands. Rahulji not only listened to us, but said that over 90 per cent of them were our constitutional rights. He assured us that most of the legitimate demands would be included in the Congress manifesto”, he said.
Asked whether he would advise Dalits to vote for the Congress in the upcoming polls, Mevani said, “I will ask my community not to vote for the BJP.”
