Vadgam: Dalit rights campaigner Jignesh Mevani has won from his constituency Vadgam in Banaskantha district by 18,150 votes as an independent candidate.
Up against BJP’s Vijay Chakravarti, Mevani emerged a winner in an easy contest today from a reserved Assembly constituency for Scheduled Caste candidate.
In what many believed was a predetermined win after Congress and AAP withdrew their candidates, Jignesh Mevani’s win today has surely heralded a change in the home turf of Prime Minister Modi.
Mevani shot to fame after he organised agitations in the aftermath of reports of atrocities against Dalits in Una district of Gujarat. He led a long march ‘Azadi Kooch’ demanding land for his community.
The 36-year-old lawyer and activist’s political debut was no less than a blockbuster, when back in July, he vanguarded a justice-siege for Dalit youths publicly beaten for skinning a dead cow in Una, Gujarat.
In another hiccup for the Gujarat government, Mevani then organised Dalit protests against the old-age practice of disposing animal carcasses over the Una incident.
Soon after he hit the anti-BJP sentiment, political observers proclaimed him as “The face of resistance against BJP”, along-with Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor.
Not With Congress
Mevani fought from Vadgam unopposed from Congress but while campaigning, maintained that it should not be confused with an under-carpet support.
In an interview in November, the 36-year-old had emphatically stated that no negotiation was struck with the Congress party.
He had said, “We want to overthrow the 22 years of BJP rule. But we are not endorsing Congress either… People of Gujarat are smart enough to choose whom to cast their vote to. We don’t have to tell them.”
