Jignesh Mewani stoking Dalit anger, should be banned from Karnataka: BJP
Chitradurga/Bengaluru: The BJP has demanded that Jignesh Mewani be barred from entering Karnataka till voting day on May 12. MLA and BJP state general secretary CT Ravi told this newspaper, Mewani wants to disrupt public life by instigating people.
“People like Mewani, Prakash Raj and others instigate the Dalits and minorities not to vote for BJP in the elections. Their agenda is to divide society based on castes and to instigate riots. With the Congress in a desperate situation, it has taken the help of Mewani and others in the elections", Mr. Ravi said.
“Supreme Court verdict has sparked unrest in North India. Taking advantage of the SC ruling on atrocity related cases, Mewani and others, are blaming the BJP led NDA government at Centre for SC verdict. They are trying to create unrest in North India and now, they are trying to create unrest in South India, especially election-bound state like Karnataka. We have decided to file a complaint against Mewani before the Election Commission of India, requesting ECI to bar Mewani from entering Karnataka and we have also decided to urge ECI to take action against him for dividing the society based on castes”, Mr. Ravi added.
Mewani is currently in Chitradurga in southern Karnataka and he has been appealing to all Dalit groups in the state to not vote for the BJP in the assembly elections. Mr Mewani called upon people to disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming rally on April 15.
His address, recorded in a video to a gathering of Dalit organizations in Chitradurga has now gone viral on soical media. In the video, Mewani called on people “to enter PM Modi's rally, throw chairs in the air and question the prime minister's promise to generate two crores worth of employment in the state". He said "if Modi does not answer, then he should be asked to leave and take shelter at a Ram Mandir in the Himalayas.”
“I am not here to support any political party," Mewani can be seen saying in the video. “I am here to awaken the masses over the risk of fascism and ensure that BJP doesn’t enter South India.”
FIR against Jignesh
Authorities enforcing the Model Code of Conduct have filed a complaint against Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and office bearers of Komu Souhardha Vedike for the Dalit leader's "provocative speech" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chitradurga even as the BJP has stepped up its tirade against the man seen as having stopped the BJP juggernaut in his home state of Gujarat.
Vedike had organised a interaction of Mr Mewani with Dalit organisations in Chitradurga where he issued a call to disrupt PM Modi's campaign here in the state.
Chitradurga police have registered a FIR against Mr Mewani and local office bearers of Vedike.
