Jignesh Mevani is front and centre at Rahul Gandhi’s rally for tribals in Gujarat

There was one more message: that the other young Congress face of Gujarat, Hardik Patel, was increasingly isolated within the party, even as he see-saws between anger and conciliation and keeps his options open.

The irony is that it was Hardik who convinced a reluctant Mevani to declare his association with the Congress in September last year.

Rahul didn’t just have Mevani, the Independent MLA from Vadgam in North Gujarat, by his side on the dais, with the two in frequent conversation, but also launched a ‘Satyagraha letter’, to be distributed among party leaders, jointly with him. Earlier, Mevani was also part of the meeting Rahul held with elected Congress MLAs.

After his bail from Assam Police custody, the Congress had allowed the use of its Delhi headquarters as a venue for Mevani’s press conference, though he is officially not still a party member.

On Tuesday, Mevani addressed the crowd before Rahul, and in a well-received speech, exhorted Adivasis to fight for their rights, and to question the BJP government’s re-definition of them as “Vanbandhu or Vanvasi”. This is seen as a reference to the RSS’s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams for tribal areas. Narendra Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister had launched a scheme called Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana for tribals,

If the Congress is betting that the popular Dalit leader, educated, a good orator and aggressive, will hold the same appeal for the marginalised tribals as his community, the Dahod rally would have given it hope. There was much curiosity among the youths in the crowd to catch a glimpse of Mevani, who has himself always claimed to represent the voices of not just Dalits but also tribals, minorities and the working class – a constituency the Congress needs to tap into.

A villager, who could only see what was going on the dais via an LED screen, said it was good that Mevani and Rahul shared the stage. “If good leaders are joining the Congress, who are fearless and will not back down from raising issues of the poor, it is welcome… Mevani has a strong voice.”

The Vadgam MLA struck a chord talking about migration from the area, “lacking education and opportunities”, to work as labourers in other parts of the state and country. He pointed to the irony in the government talking simultaneously of a Dahod Smart City project. He accused the BJP government and RSS of going after dissenting voices from marginalised communities, such as OBCs, Dalits and tribals, under “false” cases, “as they did to me”. “Very soon, they will have to withdraw these cases… The irony is that it is the tribals of Dahod who are present in the foundations of the big city projects. Be it bridges or malls, you are the builders.”

Rahul, who addressed the rally about an hour later, spoke on almost the same lines. “When infrastructure projects are built, it is the tribals who lay every brick… But you don’t get anything in return — neither education, not healthcare, nor land or water which you own,” he said.

He urged youths to take inspiration from Mevani, turning around to look at the Dalit leader to make his point. As the crowd applauded, Rahul said: “They gave him (Mevani) three months’ jail for protesting without permission (he is on bail). But even if they give him ten years in prison, he won’t change. I know him.”

Hardik, who also sat in the front row, gave a brief speech before Mevani. Rahul greeted Hardik and stopped to greet and talk to Mevani. Later, Mevani moved from a chair further away to one right behind Rahul, and the two kept talking through the event. Among the senior leaders, Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil hugged Hardik.

Later, Hardik, jointly with Rahul, launched the party’s mobile app for the Satyagraha for registerting tribal families and analysing data for poll campaign.

A senior leader said, “In the coming weeks, there will be a serious shift of dynamics on the ground. As we see it, the polarisation of voters is on the cards, and so it is important to align with faces and voices that a majority of the people identify with.”

The leader added that Rahul was keen to meet Mevani. “He has ideas and opinions and the fact that he has been invited to this meeting in Dahod is an indication that Rahulji does not want to wait till the last minute to associate with Mevani. He may join the party later officially but his presence at Congress events will be more common, in order to make the transition smooth whenever it happens.”

A veteran Congress leader, however, played down reading too much into the optics. “Today certainly Mevani got a lift from Rahulji, but that should not mean others are not important to him.”