Dalit outfit of western UP gears up for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

| | Lucknow | in Lucknow

A Dalit outfit of western Uttar Pradesh, Bhim Army, which played a pivotal role in mobilising dalits against BJP in Kairana Lok Sabha bypolls, is gearing up to contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls saying defeating BJP and RSS in general elections will be its top agenda.

Bhim Army’s national president and Chandrashekhar’s close associate, Vinay Ratan Singh, who was recently released from jail, told reporters that the coming general elections would be crucial for the organisation and they have a clear agenda to defeat the BJP/RSS at any cost.

‘’Our organisation played a silent, but very crucial role in Kairana. Our members fanned out across villages, mobilising voters against the BJP. Though we had nothing personal against BJP candidate Mriganka Singh, the party she stood for, has spearheaded caste discrimination and atrocities. Besides, the appeal by our founder ‘Ravan’ from the jail had worked,’’ Singh said.

He clarified that Bhim Sena  per se will not contest election but will help the like-minded parties.

Sources said that Bhim Army’s top leaders, including ‘Ravan,’ had been in touch with top-most leaders of the Congress through a local party heavyweight, who had played a big role behind the opposition’s victory in Kairana.

The organisation has seen swift advancement across the Western UP, but faced a stormy year since Saharanpur caste violence in 2017 and subsequent arrest of its founder Chandrashekar Azad ‘Ravan’.  The outfit has decided to launch a campaign for the release of their founder Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan,’ currently lodged in jail under the National Security Act.       

Meanwhile, as political battle gains pace in the buildup to 2019, Bhim Army is busy mobilising popular support for Chandrashekhar’s case. Prominent human rights organisation Amnesty International India has also come forward in support of the jailed leader.

Amnesty’s programme director Asmita Basu said, ‘’Laws are being misused by the Yogi Adityanath government to keep Chandrashekar behind the bars. Invoking NSA against him is unjustified and he should be released at the earliest’’.