After the support form, the OBCs and the indication from the Patidars also to extend their vote to the Patidars, now the Dalits are also likely to back the party in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls on 9 and 14 Dec.
Alpesh Thakor the OBC leader had joined hands with the Congress and assured the communities support to them, while the Patidar leader Hardik Patel has not officially announced its support but have more than once indicated that the Patidars is adamant on defeating BJP in the state, which means that this community too will be backing Congress.
Now with the OBCs and the Patidars almost on their side, it is now the Dalits. The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Friday held a meeting behind the closed doors for half an hour. After the meeting, it is being speculated that the Dalits will also be voting against the BJP. In his statement to the press, Jignesh though did not pledge his support to Congress but said that he would ask his community people not to vote for the BJP.
The 36-year-old ‘Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch’ leader, Jignesh also said that Congress has assured that 90% of the demands of the Dalits will be incorporated in the party’s election manifesto. After the meeting in his statement to the reporters, Jignesh said that “Since Una (incident), we launched numerous agitations and submitted memorandums. Despite this, the thick-skinned BJP government, which is not only anti-Dalit but also anti-people, has not considered even one demand of our community. They have not even bothered to even to talk to us.”
Appreciating the receptiveness of Congress, Jignesh said that “We had a detailed discussion with Rahulji on our 17 demands. Rahulji not only listened to us but said over 90% of them were our constitutional rights. He assured us that most of the legitimate demands would be included in the Congress manifesto.”
The demands put forth by Jignesh included five acres of farmland to each Dalit family, alternative employment for those involved in cattle- skinning and manual scavenging and investigation on the incident of firing on the community members at Thangadh in Surendranagar district in 2012.
After the meeting the Congress Vice President in his statement to the press sais that the party takes a decision keeping in mind the problems of all communities. “We listen to everyone and work after hearing their problems be it, Jignesh, Hardik or Alpesh,” Rahul said. Attacking BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that while we listen to all, BJP on the other hand in only interested in making the people listen to their ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Even with the support of the OBCs under the leadership of Alpesh Thakor and the firm aim of the Dalits and Patidars to defeat BJP who has been reigning in Gujarat for 22 years, it is still a tough task for the Congress to nail the victory in Gujarat. As the Dalits and the Patidars have not sworn their support to Congress, if BJP at the last moment manages to lure these two communities to their side by giving in to their demands, the entire game can change against the Congress.
The victory of BJP in Gujarat is also a prestige point for the party as it will also be the stepping stone to decide the path of the Lok Sabha elections due in 2019.