Jignesh Mewani in Chikkamagaluru, flays BJP, Modi

Chikkamagaluru: Newly elected independent MLA from Gujarat, the firebrand Jignesh Mewani on Friday called on secular forces to unite and take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders such as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP National president Amit Shah who will be visiting Karnataka soon, "to hold experiments on imposing Hindutva in the State." 

At a valedictory function of Sauharda Mantapa in Chikkamagaluru, Mr Mevani wanted voters of the State to thwart BJP from coming to power and wanted voters to elect only those who work from the ground level to the State Assembly in the forthcoming polls. 

Mewani said he won the election as an Independent, despite a campaign against him by Mr Modi, Mr Shah and Mr Yogi Adityanath. “I won with the support of my well-wishers and voters of the State and want to emulate the same in Karnataka and halt BJP from coming to power,” he said. Asserting that his fight is always against BJP, he, however, made it clear that he will not be campaign for any party in the forthcoming polls and instead take up the cause of downtrodden.  Coming down heavily on PM Narendra Modi, Mewani said age is fast catching up with Modi and said tongue in cheek - “we do not want an ageing Modi delivering speeches. We want to hear young leaders such as Hardhik Patel and Kanhaiya Kumar.”  Calling for justice for Dhanamma who was raped and murdered in Vijayapura, the Dalit leader expressed fears that "communal disturbances have been happening across the country owing to issues such as Love Jihad, cow slaughter, attacks on dalits among others and stated that communalism is a biggest threat to the country and that BJP is an even bigger threat to the nation.”