Congress leaders raise issue of ‘atrocities’ in Gujarat with President

Following this, Congress leader Vaghela demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge into the Una incident of beating Dalits over skinning of a dead cow on July 11.

Kept out of reckoning even by the spontaneous movement that erupted in the wake of the Dalits’ flogging, the state Congress has now taken a delegation to the President to submit a petition seeking his intervention.

The Speaker then remarked that the Opposition came with a pre-planned strategy to protest over Dalit issues as more than their concern for Dalits, they were trying to garner political mileage out of it. Police had to resort to a baton charge to disperse the rioters and then lobbed teargas shells then.

Later in the lobby of assembly, Congress MLAs displayed banners and marched while shouting slogans. Almost 400 of them, including senior leaders Shankersinh Vaghela, Bharatsinh Solanki, Shaktisinh Gohil, and Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry were detained. All those detained were later let-off later.

“The Prime Minister has time to acknowledge the suffering of people in Balochistan but it is unfortunate that he and his party have turned a blind eye to the suffering of the marginalized and underprivileged in his home state”, Gujarat PCC chief Bharatsinh Solanki said. This caused chaos in the House with the chief minister assuring that the BJP government is with the Dalit community.

Claiming that the law and order situation in Gujarat has “collapsed”, the party also accused the BJP government there of not doing anything despite the attacks on dalits, Patidars, adivasis and minorities.

Earlier, addressing the gathering at the rally, LoP Vaghela asked the public to uproot the BJP government.

The Congress leaders said they had apprised the President of the “rise in social terror in Gujarat, a phenomenon that has manifested over the past 18 years of BJP rule” in the state.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly has 57 Congress MLAs, 2 NCP, 1 JDU, one independent and 121 legislators of the ruling BJP. I objected to it.