Karni Sena leader quits, Congress worker files complaint amid row over Rupala’s remarks
A Congress worker has filed a police complaint in Junagadh alleging that Rupala insulted Dalits by his utterances at a meeting of Kshatriya community members.
2 min read
Rupala also faces a defamation case after a complaint was filed on Thursday by Congress leader Adityasinh Gohil in a magisterial court in Rajkot. (X/@PRupala)Even as Union Minister and the BJP’s Rajkot Lok Sabha candidate Parshottam Rupala has apologised twice for his recent remarks on Kshatriyas amid a simmering controversy, Raj Shekhawat — a community leader in Gujarat — on Saturday resigned from the ruling party in protest.
Shekhawat is the national president of a faction of the Karni Sena, an outfit of the Rajput or Kshatriya community. However, the Gujarat unit of the BJP has responded coldly to the resignation, saying he was “not a registered member” of the party.
While the BJP tackles protests over the Kshatriya remark row, a Congress worker has now filed a police complaint in Junagadh alleging that Rupala insulted Dalits by his utterances at a meeting of Kshatriya community members on Friday in Rajkot’s Gondal.
The Union Minister should be booked under the Atrocities Act, Ajay Vanvi, a Dalit social worker and journalist from Sultanpur village in Vanthali taluka, said in his complaint.
In the complaint filed at the Vanthali police station, Vanvi referred to the meeting that was held by the BJP on Friday where Rupala apologised for a second time over his comments at a March 22 event held by Dalits.
“He said that the programme (which had been organised by Dalits) was of no use to him and that he had gone there just like that… This shows his mentality towards Dalits. He has insulted Dalits while trying to warm up to Kshatriyas…,” reads the complaint filed by Congress worker Vanvi who is co-editor of Gujarati weekly Saurashtra Express published from Vanthali.
Rupala also faces a defamation case after a complaint was filed on Thursday by Congress leader Adityasinh Gohil in a magisterial court in Rajkot. The court has scheduled a hearing on April 12.
You May Like
