Former Rajasthan Congress MLA Girraj Singh Malinga, who was accused of assaulting a Dalit engineer, joined the Bharatiya Janta Party on Sunday in the presence of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Both BJP and Congress are yet to announce their candidate from the Bari constituency. Rajasthan is headed for Assembly elections on November 25.
According to the sources in Congress, Malinga, a three-time legislator from the Bari constituency in Dholpur, was again eyeing a party ticket ahead of the 2023 polls but was denied a visa by the party due to his alleged involvement in attacking 28-year-old engineer Harshadhipati Valmiki, working with the Rajasthan power board. However, Malinga has constantly denied the allegations as "baseless".
Last week, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot visited Harshadipati and promised that 'action will be taken' against the culprits.
The incident
On 28 March 2022, Malinga threw a chair at Harshadipati's face, and his men beat him up with sticks, bats and rods for allegedly disconnecting the power supply of a village. Harshadipati had also accused Malinga of hurling casteist slurs at him.
A day later, an FIR was registered in connection with the alleged assault at Dholpur's Bari police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 332 (assaulting public servant on duty), 353 (preventing public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The FIR named MLA Malinga as well as his associates.
Over a month after the FIR, Malinga appeared before the Jaipur Police Commissioner and addressed a press conference stating that the accusations against him were false. Later, a local court in Dholpur ordered that the MLA be sent to judicial custody, but a week after his arrest, he was granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court.
For the last 20 months, Harshadipati, suffering from two dozen fractures, has been bedridden and seeking treatment in Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital. The family has been seeking justice for the last 20 months.
‘Dalits don't matter when it comes to politics’
Reacting to Malinga joining the BJP, Harshadipati’s father, Mukesh Valmiki, told Outlook, "Joining BJP or Congress denying him ticket is not our motive. All we want is that he should be punished. He has committed a criminal offence and it's not a political act. The law should take its course and the legal action should be prompt."
Valmiki, a Congress member, added, "Earlier, BJP stalwart leaders such as Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, BJP former president Satish Poonia, former home minister Gulab Chand Kataria used to come and meet my son and later give statements against him and Congress party. But today, they have made him a BJP member. What does it say? Earlier, we saw him attending Congress rallies and even walking along with Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This makes us more upset as it's clear that the rights of Dalits do not matter when it comes to political ambitions."
BJP creating noise for votes: Dalit rights activists
"Considering the demands of the Dalit community of Rajasthan, the Congress high command has refused to entertain Malinga for his candidature, and now the BJP included MLA Girraj Singh Malinga, who carried out the fatal attack on Dalit engineer Harshadhipati Valmiki, into the party. The party has proved that it is an anti-Dalit party and only makes noise about Dalit atrocities. BJP is trying to gather votes by creating noise," said Tara Chand Vera, a Dalit rights activist.
Reacting to Malinga's joining BJP, noted Dalit rights activist and author Bhanwar Meghwanshi added, "By not giving a ticket, Congress has given a strong message that it will take a strict stand against those who commit atrocities on Dalits and the party will not show any sympathy for them. Whereas by including him in the party, BJP has made it clear to the Dalit community that it is insensitive towards the issues of the community".
Last month, Dalit rights group Anusuchit Jati Adhikar Abhiyan Rajasthan (AJAAR) drafted a 'Dalit manifesto' ahead of the state Assembly elections, which lists several demands such as social and economic justice for Dalits, land resources, safety of Dalit women, and role of government agencies, action against atrocities, education, health and several others.
According to the 2011 census, Dalits account for 17.8 per cent of Rajasthan's population, and 34 Assembly seats are reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. In 2018, Congress won 19 out of these 34 seats, whereas the BJP won 12 seats. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also won six seats, who later defected to Congress.
