When Jignesh Mevani, the vocal Dalit leader and incumbent MLA from Vadgam constituency, was languishing in an Assam prison in April this year for allegedly posting a controversial statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media and for inciting communal hatred, his colleague and Patidar leader, Hardik Patel바카라s, praise for the ruling BJP for its 바카라terrific decision-taking바카라 leadership바카라 was muddling the Congress at the same time.
The party had made Patel the working president of the state unit in July 2020 and had been banking on him for the Gujarat Assembly elections 2022, along with Mevani and OBC leader, Alpesh Thakor. Months later, Patel and Thakor are contesting the 2022 polls on BJP tickets.
Mevani has remained the only Congress loyalist from the trio of talismanic young leaders who baited the Modi government in the 2017 polls, riding on the support of the party. Hardik Patel, 29, the face of 2015-16 Patidar reservation agitation, joined the Congress before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, he left the Congress in May this year, alleging that he was side-lined in the party. Two weeks later, Patel, a staunch critic of PM Modi, joined the BJP.
The leader from the trio, Thakor, convener of OBC-ST-SC Ekta Manch, also deserted the Congress, alleging ill-treatment by the party. In the 2017 polls, Thakor won from Radhanpur constituency in Patan district on a Congress ticket. Thakor quit the Congress in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election in April. He joined the BJP in July the same year. Thakor is contesting from Gandhi Nagar South.
Upon asking about the shift of the duo from being anti-BJP campaigners in 2017 to BJP candidates in the 2022 polls, Mevani said, 바카라Hardik and Alpesh were never ideological people. But they are very pragmatic and maybe now, after lots of struggle, they want to be in power. When you are not ideologically strong, it바카라s not very surprising in our country (to jump ship). I don바카라t miss them because I am loyal to my party and now I can fight better for the cause of the marginalised.바카라
Mevani is popular for many reasons among the youth of the country and not mincing his words is one of them. Famous for his fiery approach when it comes to taking on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the past five years of Mevani as a debutant MLA from Vadgam constituency have been extremely eventful with controversies, multiple criminal cases slapped against him and his shift from being an independent Dalit voice to become the poster boy the Congress Party. However, despite party support and an overwhelming vote base among Muslims and Dalits, retaining his seat in the 2022 Assembly polls is not going to be easy.
The SC reserved seat of Vadgam in Banaskantha district has a 16.2 percent Dalit and 25.3 percent Muslim population. It has always seen a tug of war between the Congress and the BJP. But this election, Vadgam is also a testing ground for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi바카라s party. While the BJP is fielding Manilal Vaghela, a former Congress leader from the seat, the new entrant in Gujarat politics, the AAP, is fielding Dalpat Bhatiya, another popular Dalit activist.
Mevani, who is revving up his campaign in Vadgam, however, feels that being a candidate from the Congress party gives him certain advantages to seal his win from Vadgam. He claims that the shift from being a strong independent player in Gujarat politics for a span of six years to joining the grand old party Congress has not dented his liberty as a people바카라s representative.
Talking to Outlook, Mevani says, 바카라When you contest from a party like the Congress, which religiously follows its democratic practices, you enjoy the similar kind of liberty that you would enjoy as an independent legislator. Belonging to a party makes things easier. Most importantly, there is already a symbol of the party which you as a candidate don바카라t need to establish.바카라
The entry of the AAP into the politics of Gujarat is speculated to downsize the traditional vote base of the Congress: the Dalits and the Muslims. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal made a written assertion that it would form the government in Gujarat after the Assembly polls. While both the Congress and the AAP are banking on issues like inflation, unemployment etc, Mevani believes that the entry of the AAP into the electoral politics of Gujarat will have little or no effect upon the Congress. He refuses to believe that Kejriwal바카라s party holds any real popularity on the ground among the Dalits and Muslims that constitute around 7 percent and 10 percent of the population respectively. Mevani said that Dalits will be with the Congress as the 바카라removal바카라 of Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Dalit activist, from his ministry in Kejriwal바카라s cabinet amidst a conversion controversy in October this year didn바카라t go well with a section of the community.
바카라There is a section of the Dalits which is really uncomfortable with the AAP. Arvind Kejriwal was leading the anti-reservation campaign and the party remained silent on all the cases of caste violence. In fact, they don바카라t use the word Dalit and Muslim in their speeches. They don바카라t make any references to these two communities in their election campaigns.바카라 Mevani said. He also claimed that the party is only trying to sell an image which they could manage after the victory in Punjab elections. 바카라They are not going to win a single seat in Gujarat and I mean it with all conviction. They are not in the fight and people are wise in the country.바카라 he added.
Mevani, however, averred that it is possible that the AAP might keep away a chunk of Muslim or Dalit votes but it would not be very impactful. He claimed that the party never took any stand for Dalits and the Muslims. 바카라Where do they stand in the fight against fascism? If they happen to cut Muslim vote banks it would be most unfortunate. They are the ones who remained silent on Bilkis Bano, on mob lynching. They are the ones who didn바카라t take a stand on NRC and were silent on the bulldozer movement. The claim of forming the next government is just nonsense,바카라 said the Congress leader.
However, in his own constituency of Vadgam, Mevani is facing another challenge. That is the fielding of a Hindu candidate by the AIMIM. AIMIM found Mevani바카라s competition in Kalpeshbhai Sundhia, who is expected to divide the Muslim vote base. While Mevani agrees with the fact that AIMIM can divide his Muslim vote base, he is convinced this divide would not be a problem for him. 바카라It would not affect me at all. It바카라s not a big deal. Muslims are politically sharp people who would ensure that BJP gets defeated in polls. They won바카라t let their votes get divided.바카라 he said.
According to the journalist-turned-lawyer-turned-activist-turned-politician, politics is an expansion of his activism. It is a tool for him to reach out to more people who are poor and marginalised with the power of an elected representative. 바카라I became an activist to bring positive changes to the lives of the poor and marginalised people. But activism has its limitations. If you want to help out and reach out to more people, then politics is the vehicle. Politics for me is an extension of activism바카라, Mevani said.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Acid test")
