Jignesh Mevani, who has been elected to the Gujarat Assembly, has said he will campaign in the Assembly elections in Karnataka and other States aligning with progressive forces.
“I am not concerned about which party will benefit by my campaign ... but my focus is to defeat the BJP,” he said in his valedictory address at the two-day event organised by Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike here on Friday.
He appealed to activists of Karnataka to field at least 10 to 15 candidates associated with people’s movements in the upcoming elections. “No matter to which party or organisation the candidate belongs to, we have to support him or her. We shall also appeal to the Congress not to field its candidates against them, as the party did in my case in Gujarat. Our goal must be to defeat the Sangh Parivar,” he said.
During the elections in Gujarat, 80% of Muslims and Dalits in Vadgam voted against the BJP, he said. “I wish here in Karnataka, 95% of Dalits, Muslims, farmers, and workers vote against the BJP.” “In recent years, after incidents like Una, there is unity among Dalits and Muslims. As women of Dalit and Backward Classes prayed in temples for my victory, more than 200 Muslim women observed a fast for me,” he said. The unity should spread across the country, and that would pose a great threat to the communal forces, he added.
