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Senior Congress leader Paresh Dhanani on Wednesday alleged Union Minister Parshottam Rupala’s alleged derogatory remarks against the Kshatriya community were not a slip of the tongue but an attempt by the BJP to sow seeds of “vargavigrah (sectarian conflict)” to divert attention from real issues ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Dhanani, who is up against Rupala in the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, said he could not believe the statements made by Rupala against the Kshatriya community were mere errors. While addressing a press conference in Rajkot, Dhanani said, “I am fully convinced the BJP has tried to turn Rajkot into a battlefield by design. The BJP’s candidate has been a teacher and a knowledgeable man. People also believe he is well-read. I don’t believe that such a person would commit such a mistake. This is not a mistake but an intentional act of BJP’s decision-makers to push Gujarat into the inferno of vargavigrah (sectarian conflict)”.
Kshatriyas have been protesting against Rupala since a video clip of his remarks at a Dalit event went viral in the last week of March. The protesters are demanding that the BJP cancel the election ticket to Rupala to contest the Lok Sabha election 2024 from Rajkot.
Referring to the struggle between Patidars and Kshatriyas in Gujarat for dominance during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dhanani said the BJP has been deploying the same tricks in successive elections. “Those who are in power today were supporting the British during (India’s) struggle for freedom. Gandhi won us freedom, Sardar (Vallabhbhai Patel) Saheb united all castes and creeds by tying them with the thread of feelings, and Babasaheb blew life into the Constitution and took forward the march of giving rights to common people,” said Dhanani.
“However, they (BJP) have sown seeds of vargavigrah during every election in the past to crush those rights and seize power. Having tasted success, those very people have tried to sow another seed of vargavigrah this time also. This has been done apparently to divert attention from real issues like corruption, economic slump, price rise, unemployment etc.”
Dhanani and Rupala are contesting against each other after more than two decades. At 27, Dhanani defeated Rupala from the Amreli Assembly constituency in 2002. Rupala, the veteran BJP leader, did not contest any direct election after that defeat until being fielded by the ruling party for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat this time.
Voting in the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat will take place on May 7, and results will be announced on June 4.
Dhanani said while Congress governments enacted laws giving people rights to information, education, forest land, free ration etc to empower them, the BJP is trying to put in place a system of “slavery.” “Congress tried to empower people by giving them rights… Citizens are the true owners of this country and India will become a great country if its common men are empowered. But the BJP is trying to put in place a system of slavery wherein, by one way or the other, people are forced to visit government offices and salute those running the government,” he said.
“Drunk on uninterrupted power, the people of the Bharatiya Janata Party have lost sense of proportion. They are trampling the rights of people guaranteed by the Constitution… Look at how landsharks, property-sharks, mineral mafia, education mafia, and liquor mafia have emerged in the state. Now, it appears that Gujarat has become a gateway to drugs. Gandhi’s Gujarat, which was the first state in India to implement a Prohibition Law, has become a gateway to drugs. Everyone is pondering as to in what direction these rulers want to push the next generation of Gujarat.”
Dhanani said the BJP rule is benefiting the rich while the poor are facing “tax terrorism.” He said: “Tax terrorism is being deployed in an attempt to fill up the state exchequer by taxing the hard-earned wages of nana manas (the poor). There is tax terrorism and toll terrorism. People of Gujarat are asking why the hard-earned wages of nana manas are being looted through tax terrorism to fill up state coffers on the one hand, and on the other, why that very money is being packed into the purses of a handful of the rich.”
The Congress leader also alleged since the BJP has been in power for around three decades, the arrogance of the saffron party’s leaders knows no bounds and they care little for people.
“Arrogance of rulers, who have been in power continuously and constantly, knows no bounds today and people of all castes, religions and languages and regions, including Rajkot are under the fire of that arrogance… We are all aware that BJP leaders are dominating panchayats to Parliament and flying its flag… Unfortunately, there has been no Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly for the past one-and-quarter year. Yet those in power have completely failed to meet people’s hopes and expectations. BJP candidates across Gujarat are today paying the price for that failure,” he said.
The Congress leader also said it was good riddance that some Congressmen defected to the BJP and are now causing problems for the ruling party. “I am thankful to the divine powers that evils (kakalat) which were bothering Congress have all flown to Kamalam (the BJP’s office) over the past 15 years and consequently Gujarat BJP is today battling a wildfire,” he said.
Dhanani was referring to the BJP’s change of candidates in Vadodara and Sabarkantha and clashes among party workers in Amreli early this month.
“Beginning from Rajkot to Amreli, Surendranagar to Junagadh, Mehsana to Sabarkantha, Vadodara to Valsad—everywhere those who have defected from Opposition benches are calling shots. Grassroots workers in Rajkot, which had nurtured this ‘Party with Difference,’ are also dusting off chairs at Kamalam. Today, we have a situation wherein more than one-half of members of Parliament are of Congress or Opposition gotra (lineage) are wearing crowns and occupying Kamalam chairs cleaned by BJP workers,” Dhanani added.
