“It is important to save our democracy. You have the power of ballot to defeat the BJP in 2019. If they win, you will not be able to organise such meetings anymore,” Sharad Yadav said.
Hailing the Bharat bandh called by different SC and ST outfits as a “historic” event but condemning violence during Monday’s protests, rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday said the deprived sections will see no real uplift as long as the BJP is in power. He urged students to defeat the saffron party in 2019 General Election.
Delivering a talk on ‘Social justice after Mandal Commission’ at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, Yadav called the Supreme Court’s order amending the SC/ST Act “not just”. He said, “This was the first time in centuries that the most marginalised sections — the Dalits — came out on the streets and displayed the strength of their numbers. It was a historic day. However, the violence was wrong. I pay condolences to those killed in the violence yesterday, whether they were Dalits or non-Dalits.”
He said, “Some people came to me yesterday and I told them that there should be no violence —that even if you commit a small mistake, it will be projected as a big blunder…”
He said, “Justice will not come to (Dalits) even through this movement because the state apparatus is in their (BJP’s) hands. They will declare yesterday as a day of injustice (because of the violence). They are the ones operating the system. All parties have to come together to defeat the BJP.”
“It is important to save our democracy. You have the power of ballot to defeat the BJP in 2019. If they win, you will not be able to organise such meetings anymore,” Yadav told the students.