When Jignesh Mevani, the vocal Dalit leader and incumbent MLA from Vadgam constituency, was languishing in an Assam prison in April this year for allegedly posting a controversial statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media and for inciting communal hatred, his colleague and Patidar leader, Hardik Patel’s, praise for the ruling BJP for its ‘terrific decision-taking’ leadership’ was muddling the Congress at the same time.
The party had made Patel the working president of the state unit in July 2020 and had been banking on him for the Gujarat Assembly elections 2022, along with Mevani and OBC leader, Alpesh Thakor. Months later, Patel and Thakor are contesting the 2022 polls on BJP tickets.
Mevani has remained the only Congress loyalist from the trio of talismanic young leaders who baited the Modi government in the 2017 polls, riding on the support of the party. Hardik Patel, 29, the face of 2015-16 Patidar reservation agitation, joined the Congress before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, he left the Congress in May this year, alleging that he was side-lined in the party. Two weeks later, Patel, a staunch critic of PM Modi, joined the BJP.
The leader from the trio, Thakor, convener of OBC-ST-SC Ekta Manch, also deserted the Congress, alleging ill-treatment by the party. In the 2017 polls, Thakor won from Radhanpur constituency in Patan district on a Congress ticket. Thakor quit the Congress in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election in April. He joined the BJP in July the same year. Thakor is contesting from Gandhi Nagar South.
Upon asking about the shift of the duo from being anti-BJP campaigners in 2017 to BJP candidates in the 2022 polls, Mevani said, “Hardik and Alpesh were never ideological people. But they are very pragmatic and maybe now, after lots of struggle, they want to be in power. When you are not ideologically strong, it’s not very surprising in our country (to jump ship). I don’t miss them because I am loyal to my party and now I can fight better for the cause of the marginalised.”
Mevani is popular for many reasons among the youth of the country and not mincing his words is one of them. Famous for his fiery approach when it comes to taking on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the past five years of Mevani as a debutant MLA from Vadgam constituency have been extremely eventful with controversies, multiple criminal cases slapped against him and his shift from being an independent Dalit voice to become the poster boy the Congress Party. However, despite party support and an overwhelming vote base among Muslims and Dalits, retaining his seat in the 2022 Assembly polls is not going to be easy.
The SC reserved seat of Vadgam in Banaskantha district has a 16.2 percent Dalit and 25.3 percent Muslim population. It has always seen a tug of war between the Congress and the BJP. But this election, Vadgam is also a testing ground for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi’s party. While the BJP is fielding Manilal Vaghela, a former Congress leader from the seat, the new entrant in Gujarat politics, the AAP, is fielding Dalpat Bhatiya, another popular Dalit activist.
Mevani, who is revving up his campaign in Vadgam, however, feels that being a candidate from the Congress party gives him certain advantages to seal his win from Vadgam. He claims that the shift from being a strong independent player in Gujarat politics for a span of six years to joining the grand old party Congress has not dented his liberty as a people’s representative.
Talking to Outlook, Mevani says, “When you contest from a party like the Congress, which religiously follows its democratic practices, you enjoy the similar kind of liberty that you would enjoy as an independent legislator. Belonging to a party makes things easier. Most importantly, there is already a symbol of the party which you as a candidate don’t need to establish.”
The entry of the AAP into the politics of Gujarat is speculated to downsize the traditional vote base of the Congress: the Dalits and the Muslims. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal made a written assertion that it would form the government in Gujarat after the Assembly polls. While both the Congress and the AAP are banking on issues like inflation, unemployment etc, Mevani believes that the entry of the AAP into the electoral politics of Gujarat will have little or no effect upon the Congress. He refuses to believe that Kejriwal’s party holds any real popularity on the ground among the Dalits and Muslims that constitute around 7 percent and 10 percent of the population respectively. Mevani said that Dalits will be with the Congress as the ‘removal’ of Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Dalit activist, from his ministry in Kejriwal’s cabinet amidst a conversion controversy in October this year didn’t go well with a section of the community.
“There is a section of the Dalits which is really uncomfortable with the AAP. Arvind Kejriwal was leading the anti-reservation campaign and the party remained silent on all the cases of caste violence. In fact, they don’t use the word Dalit and Muslim in their speeches. They don’t make any references to these two communities in their election campaigns.” Mevani said. He also claimed that the party is only trying to sell an image which they could manage after the victory in Punjab elections. “They are not going to win a single seat in Gujarat and I mean it with all conviction. They are not in the fight and people are wise in the country.” he added.
Mevani, however, averred that it is possible that the AAP might keep away a chunk of Muslim or Dalit votes but it would not be very impactful. He claimed that the party never took any stand for Dalits and the Muslims. “Where do they stand in the fight against fascism? If they happen to cut Muslim vote banks it would be most unfortunate. They are the ones who remained silent on Bilkis Bano, on mob lynching. They are the ones who didn’t take a stand on NRC and were silent on the bulldozer movement. The claim of forming the next government is just nonsense,” said the Congress leader.
However, in his own constituency of Vadgam, Mevani is facing another challenge. That is the fielding of a Hindu candidate by the AIMIM. AIMIM found Mevani’s competition in Kalpeshbhai Sundhia, who is expected to divide the Muslim vote base. While Mevani agrees with the fact that AIMIM can divide his Muslim vote base, he is convinced this divide would not be a problem for him. “It would not affect me at all. It’s not a big deal. Muslims are politically sharp people who would ensure that BJP gets defeated in polls. They won’t let their votes get divided.” he said.
According to the journalist-turned-lawyer-turned-activist-turned-politician, politics is an expansion of his activism. It is a tool for him to reach out to more people who are poor and marginalised with the power of an elected representative. “I became an activist to bring positive changes to the lives of the poor and marginalised people. But activism has its limitations. If you want to help out and reach out to more people, then politics is the vehicle. Politics for me is an extension of activism”, Mevani said.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Acid test")
