On Wednesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominated another leader to take the place of its minister and Dalit face, Rajendra Pal Gautam, in the Arvind Kejriwal government. In Gujarat, where BJP posters following a conversion event in which Gautam participated led to his exit, there is anger towards both the BJP and AAP over the sequence of events. Jignesh Mevani, Vadgam MLA, working president of the Gujarat Congress, and one of the most prominent Dalit leaders in the state, says he can't understand what wrong Gautam did by repeating the vows that B R Ambedkar himself framed for conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism, at the event held in Delhi. “Rajendra Pal Gautam's inclination towards Buddhism appears to be quite genuine. And he has every right to convert to Buddhism like Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Mevani told The Indian Express. He adds that the BJP, “being a force of Opposition”, was expected to put pressure on AAP over Gautam repeating the vows, which include the denunciation of Hindu gods and goddesses. “But I am not clear why he had to quit,” Mevani says. Gautam has claimed that it was his own decision to resign, to spare AAP from BJP attacks. On AAP's silence on the matter after the BJP attacked Gautam, Mevani says he was not really surprised. “For the same reasons as to why AAP didn't utter a word on Delhi riots, remained silent on Bilkis Bano, keeps mum on Dalit atrocity cases, they are not defending Rajendra Pal Gautam.” Questioning AAP's claims of doing “politics of work”, and being different from other parties, Mevani says: “AAP has no agenda of social justice and secularism.” He also believes the incident will boomerang on AAP. “The party has got exposed among the Dalits. They now have a reason to reject them.” The 2011 Census put the population of various Scheduled Castes in Gujarat at around 40.74 lakh, or 6.7% of its total population. The Dalits used to be considered traditional voters of the Congress, but of late the BJP has been able to make inroads into the community. AAP, which talks of Ambedkar as one of its icons, has been trying to woo the community. Last month, Kejriwal hosted a sanitation worker from Ahmedabad, Harsh Solanki, and his family at his home in Delhi. Of the 13 seats reserved for SCs in the state, the Congress holds five, including Mevani who joined the party after the polls, and the BJP eight. AAP national joint general secretary Isudan Gadhvi, however, argues that rather than the party, the Dalits were unhappy with the BJP over what had happened with Gautam. "The Dalits in Gujarat are angry with the BJP over the way it and the RSS acted on the issue. After all, the Sangh also visits Ambedkar's Diksha Bhoomi.” Calling Babasaheb “God for Dalits”, Gadhvi adds: “This will surely backfire for the BJP.” Following his resignation, Gautam had held a rally in Delhi with Dalit and Buddhist groups from across the country, where he said he had done no wrong. The participants were almost unanimous in their anger towards AAP, while saying there was no surprise in how the BJP had reacted. The Gujarat Buddhist Academy (GBA), a leading group that has been organising religious conversions in the state for long, agrees with Gadhvi. GBA General Secretary Ramesh Banker says: “The BJP is opposing the AAP leader with a political motive. They don't have a problem with the 22 vows of Ambedkar, but how to stop AAP which is growing in Gujarat (is their concern). They want to do Hindu polarisation while portraying AAP, its minister and Kejriwal as anti-Hindu.” Banker adds that the 22 vows speaking of renunciation of Hindu gods and goddesses, which were repeated by Gautam, were also published in government publications. “So, it is not that which the BJP has objection to. Their only concern is about AAP denting its vote share. We have been holding such events for years. Why are they taking objection to these vows only this year?” Banker welcomes Gautam's resignation though. “It will not only benefit the party, but also give Gautam time to take his (Buddhist) movement forward. It was a timely decision, a well-thought-out political move.” Asked if the development could damage AAP politically, Banker says all depends on the next move of Kejriwal. “But I don't think that (after this resignation), the BJP will be able to get any more benefit.” Another Buddhist community leader from Ahmedabad and the president of the Triratna Bauddh Mahasangh, Ratnakar Kosambi, also says: “I do not think that this controversy is going to damage AAP and benefit BJP in Gujarat because educated people know very well that these vows are integral part (of Buddhist conversion ceremonies).” There may be one good thing from the whole controversy, he adds. “It will take the words of Ambedkar to the masses.”
