Gujarat: BJP books dissenters from oppressed communities under false cases, says Mevani

Speaking at the Congress party’s Adivasi Satyagraha in Dahod, where Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address the audience, Mevani also criticised the BJP for refusing to recognise Adivasis’ identity.

MLA Jignesh Mevani speaks to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the party's Adivasi Satyagraha in Dahod. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been booking dissenting voices from “oppressed communities” under false charges and will “soon have to withdraw” the cases. Mevani said the saffron party’s schemes that claim to confer rights on ‘vanvasis’ is a ploy to wipe out the actual identity of tribals.

He was speaking at the Congress party’s Adivasi Satyagraha in Dahod where senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to address a tribal gathering shortly. Mevani said, “The BJP does not want to implement any laws related to Adivasi rights… They refuse to identify Adivasis by their actual identity and call them Vanbandhu and Vanvasi but the actual true identity of the tribals is that of Adivasis. The young Adivasi generation should challenge this fact and reclaim their identity.”

Referring to the recent case filed against him in Assam, Mevani said, “If any youth from the OBC Dalit or Adivasi community challenges the RSS or the BJP, they book them under false cases like they did to me. They did the same in Kevadia in the name of development. Today, from this stage, I am saying that the BJP will have to take back all these cases. They are planning to displace 50,000 more families in the name of building dams, but the Congress will fight for the tribals. We are all standing in front of you and for the rights of Adivasis.”

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Earlier, Mevani alleged that the BJP had indulged in scams in providing jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in tribal districts of Gujarat. Mevani said, “I saw boards of Dahod Smart City when I was coming here. People say they have put up boards seven times, but only dug a few pits in the name of Smart City… What an irony that every mall and city infrastructure in Gujarat has the sweat and blood of labourers from Dahod in its foundation but this is what Dahod is…”

“Tribals of Dahod have to travel over 200 km to find work… The Congress brought MGNREGA but, forget implementing it, the BJP leaders are indulging in corruption in MNREGA. But the Congress will restore the rights of the tribals,” he asserted.

Gujarat Congress Working President Hardik Patel also addressed the gathering and said, “It is time for the voters to bring back the Congress to power and bring about change in Gujarat.”

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