Mysuru: Calling on the JD(S) leadership to make its stance on a prospective alliance withBJP clear, Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader
Jignesh Mevani said, “If the JD(S) allies with the
BJP, they would be defrauding the Dalits and minorities in the state.”
Pointing out that some of the statements made by JD(S) leaders made one suspicious of the party’s secular credentials, Mevani said, “One of the party’s leaders has said that he will go with the BJP to defeat chief minister
Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari segment. The JD(S) has allied with the BJP in the past, and if that happens this time, it would be the biggest fraud that the party would have played on Dalits and minorities in the state.”
Asking the JD(S) leadership to unequivocally state that they would never join hands with the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, Mevani said, “The JD(S) should say, come what may, we will not join hands with the BJP. When the nation’s interest and the
Constitution are at stake, the fundamental duty of a political party must be to preserve the values enshrined in the Constitution. Why can’t the JD(S) make an appeal to defeat these forces, and throw them in the dustbin? JD(S) should not hide.”
Mevani dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Chamarajanagar on Tuesday ‘dull and a disaster’. “I personally believe He (Modi) should go to the Himalayas and settle there. There was no content in his speech. He should have raised real problems faced by the people of India such as unemployment. He promised 2 crore jobs each year, which is nearly 9 crore jobs in four years, but he has failed to create even 9 lakh jobs. He is silent on the issue of farmers’ suicides, the agrarian crisis, attacks on Dalits and minorities, and on the 50 lakh shelters he promised. Modi did not utter a single word on these issues. Instead of creating jobs, he is slicing them through various amendments. Demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have increased unemployment. When the youngsters of this country are asking questions, Modi is silent,” Mevani said.
The Dalit leader added, “Siddaramaiah’s model may not be great, but Modi development model is undoubtedly disastrous. Modi keeps talking about Ambedkar, but in his heart, there is only Manu.”
‘Indians v/s BJP’
Reacting to Modi’s challenge to All India
Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi, wherein the former asked the latter to speak uninterruptedly for 15 minutes listing the achievements of the Congress government in Karnataka, Mevani said, “I challenge PM Modi to speak for four minutes about his achievements in four years.”
Stating that Modi had done nothing for Gujarat in the past 22 years, Mevani said, “The Gujarat model is a fascist and communal model of development. Modi’s brand of politics is to get Rama and Allah into the discourse. If he has a 56-inch chest, let him have Nirav Modi, and Vijay Mallya arrested.”
Mevani said that the assembly electtions in Karnataka, and the Lok Sabha elections next year, the motto would be ‘Indians v/s BJP’. “Defeating communal forces in the election is the main agenda. I will soon start the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch in Karnataka by bringing all Dalit organisations under one umbrealla,” he added.
