WITH TWO of its brightest younger faces on the dais, the Congress on Tuesday launched its marketing campaign for Jignesh Mevani. The BJP’s Manibhai Vaghela additionally filed his nomination for Vadgam seat in Banaskantha Tuesday, however the pleasure and the eyeballs had been reserved for Vadgam sitting MLA Mevani, who had with him Kanhaiya Kumar, the latter having come from Maharashtra, the place he’s a part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi.
When Mevani, 41, received from Vadgam in 2017, he was an Unbiased MLA. He’s now a bona fide Congress chief and considered one of its outstanding Dalit faces. Nominated by the Congress from the Scheduled Caste reserved seat of Vadgam solely on November 13, in its sixth listing, he talked extra about “sarva samaj” points on Tuesday quite than simply Dalit issues.
The fireworks had been by Kanhaiya, who started by calling for a two-minute silence for the 135 individuals who died within the latest Morbi bridge collapse after which took on the BJP authorities over the tragedy, the launch of the Bilkis Bano rape convicts and its personal dynastic politics, particularly the truth that Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay occupies the celebrated BCCI secretary submit.
The rallies by the Congress’s Mevani and the BJP’s Vaghela nearly coincided in timing and route. Mevani held a motorcycle rally ranging from a memorial to a little-known martyr, the Shahid Veer Faljibhai Chaudhary Chowk, in village Bhangrodiya. From right here, individuals numbering a few hundred accompanied him on two-wheelers over the 6 km distance to the general public assembly level on the coronary heart of Vadgam metropolis, the place a thousand or so individuals had gathered.
Nomination day ! #MaruVadgam#MevaniSatheVadgam pic.twitter.com/1loCRtvfXe
— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) November 15, 2022
Enroute, the rally crossed the BJP public gathering, the place the star presence was Minister of Medical Training from BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Vishwas Sarang.
The Mevani rally, which was a lot delayed as Kanhaiya obtained late, largely had Congress staff and members of Mevani’s Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, a giant variety of whom had been girls.
Ladies had been additionally current in massive numbers when Mevani took off on his bike rally. A part of a gaggle of 4 curious onlookers, considered one of them mentioned they had been dedicated Congress voters and had come particularly to see the Dalit chief. “Now we have heard of him, however we’re seeing him for the primary time.”
The 2011 Census put round 12% of the inhabitants within the village, with roughly 300 households, as SCs. Villagers estimate the family quantity at 1,500-1,800 now. The village additionally has Muslims and Bhil tribals.
A few kilometre from the village chowk dwell two members of the Cheliya Muslim buying and selling neighborhood, who incessantly journey to Mumbai for enterprise. The neighborhood is understood to run restaurant chains in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Claiming that they help the BJP, one of many merchants confirms what’s the basic consensus about this no-wave, no-overarching-issue election. “Iss baar sab thanda hai (There is no such thing as a pleasure this time).”
कांग्रेस पार्टी के हजारों कार्यकर्ता, पदाधिकारी, समर्थकों और क्रांतिकारी युवा नेता कन्हैया कुमार की विशेष उपस्तिथि में आज वडगाम विधानसभा क्षेत्र से अपना नामांकन दाखिल किया। मुझे विश्वास है वडगाम की जनता फिर एक बार मुझे अपना प्यार और आशीर्वाद जरूर देगी।#mevanisathevadgam pic.twitter.com/KsQj9I8nAX
— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) November 15, 2022
BJP candidate Vaghela is well-known within the space, like Mevani. As a Congress chief in 2017, he had stayed away from the Vadgam contest, contributing largely to Mevani’s win. Mevani had defeated the candidate put up by the BJP by almost 19,700 votes.
On the Vaghela rally, it was introduced that the BJP had set itself a goal of 150 seats in Gujarat (of complete 182), and was holding such conferences because it couldn’t go door-to-door to fulfill all. MP minister Sarang talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, J P Nadda and different nationwide leaders of the social gathering, whereas itemizing the Modi authorities “successes” just like the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and emphasising on the advantages of “a double-engine sarkar”.
Mevani, the consummate politician now, advised the individuals of Bhangrodiya from the place he began his bike rally that the village would rank first in his growth plans for Vadgam. On the public assembly, he gave “three ensures” targeted on hyper-local points.
आज साथी @jigneshmevani80 ने वड़गाम विधानसभा चुनाव में प्रत्याशी के तौर पर अपना नामांकन दाखिल किया। साथी जिग्नेश ने हमेशा न्याय और सद्भावना के पक्ष में अपनी आवाज़ बुलंद की है। इस चुनाव में उनकी जीत जनवादी राजनीति के मूल्यों की जीत होगी। pic.twitter.com/3TpS4SayF9
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) November 15, 2022
“For college kids of all communities, I shall be establishing a library, be it from the MLA grant or if I’ve to exit with a begging bowl. Secondly, whereas the Mukteshwar water undertaking has been permitted, you will note water within the Karmavat lake throughout the subsequent 5 years. Thirdly, it has been almost one-and-a-half years because the authorities introduced that the Jalotra GIDC shall be arrange, however not even a brick has been laid. I assure that even when I’ve to battle, the GIDC unit shall be arrange,” Mevani mentioned.
The sitting MLA additionally talked in regards to the promise he had made in 2017 relating to getting Narmada water to Vadgam. “I made representations, raised the difficulty within the Vidhan Sabha and right now Rs 152 crore value of water tasks have been permitted,” he mentioned.
On points past Vadgam, Mevani mentioned he had at all times raised his voice towards unconstitutional actions, and mentioned that if the Congress fashioned the federal government in Gujarat, circumstances registered over protests towards the CAA/NRC in Chhapi, Banaskantha, together with on critical costs resembling culpable murder, can be withdrawn.
Mevani added {that a} Congress authorities would additionally drop costs of misappropriation of milk cooperative funds towards former BJP chief Vipul Chaudhary. The Chaudhary neighborhood contains the second-largest chunk of the Vadgam citizens, after Muslims.
In his tackle, Kanhaiya mentioned the approaching elections are about “who’s accountable for the Morbi bridge collapse, and for Covid-19 sufferers not receiving oxygen in hospitals”. “What the TV phrases as a problem, isn’t the true situation. Shut your eyes and vote for the difficulty that bothers you — inflation, petrol value, rapists’ sanskar being lauded (in a reference to the Bilkis Bano case), your profession,” he mentioned.