Jignesh Mevani, an independent MLA from Vadgam who allies with Congress, this morning, said that the most important aspect in political activism is ethics and Hardik Patel, through his comments against the Congress has shown that he has no ethical inclination. “Hardik’s jibe over Congress was unethical and exposed his lack of integrity,” Mevani told VO!.
Mewani stressed that it was inappropriate for Hardik Patel to have stated that the Congress party is anti-Gujarat. He added, “Rahul Gandhi woke up in the middle of the night to coordinate with the state leadership when I was arrested and taken over to Assam.”
The Dalit leader further said that Patel might have had ideological differences with the Congress but these are supposed to be discussed with the leadership. Instead, Patel took it personally. He insisted, “It was very unethical of Hardik to quote that state leadership was busy arranging chicken sandwich for Rahulji in his resignation letter.”
Talking about his future plans to campaign for the rights of the lower-classes, Mevani said, “On May 22, we will hold an ‘All Caste Convention’ at Vav Taluka in Banaskantha district. Then more campaigns will be held in various northern regions of Gujarat.”
Mevani also questioned government’s decision to withdraw only cases against the Patidars. ”Why didn’t the government withdraw cases against the Dalits involved in Una protests?” he asked.
“Ideology is not a garment, it should be like threads in the vein. We are not going to bow down. The Congress will fight the upcoming assembly elections with a consolidated SC, ST, Minority, OBC front”, Mewani added.