Gujarat polls: Jignesh files nomination papers, Congress extends ‘unofficial’ support

On the question of supporting Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani in the Assembly election, Congress said while it supports Mevani in his ‘fight’ against the BJP, the party’s official stand in this regard would be announced later.

Talking to National Herald over the phone, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi confirmed that the Congress has decided to support Mevani in his ‘fight’ against the BJP. However, he emphasised that it was not the official stand of the party.

“Dalits live under fear in BJP rule. Whoever is fighting against the BJP’s misrule, we will support them. The Congress appeals to all youths, opposition forces to come together to fight against this reign of terror,” he added.

The face of the Una Dalit uprising, Jignesh Mevani, has filed his nomination papers for the state Assembly election on Monday in Vadgam.

Before filing his nomination, in a series of scathing posts, Mevani called BJP the biggest enemy and appealed to opposition forces to fight unitedly against the saffron party.

In one of his posts, the leader of the Dalit Adhikar Manch (DAM) wrote, “Though I am contesting from Vadgam but my target is the Vadnagar’s PM.” It is important to note that Vadnagar is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown.

According to local media, the Congress, which holds the Vadgam seat in the outgoing Assembly, has asked its MLA Manibhai Vaghela not to file nomination papers for the seat. November 27 was the last date for filing of nomination papers for the second phase of Assembly election.

Analysts feel that Mevani has deliberately targeted PM Modi in his Facebook post before filing his nomination papers.

His selection of the SC seat was a well-planned move.

“For him, it is a win-win situation. If he wins the election, he will be credited to defeat the Modi wave/magic in election. His chances of losing the election is very low as most of the people there belong to the SC category,” said an Ahmedabad-based journalist.