Gujarat elections: Silent wave in state, upcoming polls to give new direction to country, says Jignesh Mevani

Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani feels a silent wave has gripped the Bharatiya Janata Partyruled Gujarat where a change is inevitable and the upcoming state Assembly polls will give a new direction to the countryThe Congress will win 120 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state polls scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5 he claimed in an interview with PTIThis election is against autocracy unemployment and price rise he saidMevani 41 who is eyeing a second term from Vadgam this time on the Congress ticket is slogging it out in the poll arena covering around 10 villages in a day in his Assembly seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste SC candidatesHe was elected as an independent MLA from the same seat in 2017 with the Congresss supportThis time there is a silent revolution a silent wave has gripped the state People have made up their mind as they think that enough is enough Mevani claimed in response to a question that the BJP is considered unbeatable in GujaratMevani said the Gujarat elections will give a new direction to the countryThe MLA said his assessment is that the Congress will win 120 Assembly seats and lay the foundation for rebuilding Gujarat A change is inevitable he saidThough the BJP is trying rake up emotional issues such as Hindutva this time it wont work the Congress leader said adding he has been telling people to vote for him keeping in mind the price of a gas cylinderPeople elected Prime Minister Modiji with great love not once but twice but after so many years unemployment has not decreased price rise has not stopped he saidNow people have witnessed that they are a repressive government as they started targeting those who raise their voice against them including opposition leaders advocates journalists They people understood that this is a dictatorial government he saidAlso ReadPM Modi to address rallies in Kutch Jamnagar Bhavnagar and RajkotAsked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi having a fan following and an aura of unbeatability in Gujarat Mevani claimed He does not have an aura but it has been built by the use of money power public relations and image buildingIt is to be seen how many people will come to listen to him on their own if he does a public meeting without using officials machinery and keeping buses to ferry the people he saidMevani claimed the time has come for the prime minister to retireHe should retire as he does not have anything new to say now nothing to offer people do not have much expectations from him the legislator saidHe Modi said they will make smart cities where are smart cities They said they will give employment to two crore people where are two crore jobs They said they will give everyone Rs 15 lakh in their account where is the money What have people got with his model of vikas development What happened to his slogan of acche din nothing Mevani addedHe also dismissed claims of the Arvind Kejriwalled Aam Aadmi Party being a third force in the stateThere is no race here Mark my words the AAP will not win even a single seat in Gujarat he saidNo party can win elections in any state by social media campaign for twofour months and organising a few town hall meetings Where are their workers they are nowhere to be seen here in Vadgam he saidBut Mevani acknowledged the All India MajlisEIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM can eat into his votes in the Vadgam seatThe Asaududdin Owaisiled AIMIM has fielded 13 candidates in the state including one from the Vagdam seatThe AIMIM will spoil my votes personally and of other Congress candidates in other seats They cannot win here what else can they do But they can only make the BJP win by splitting the votes Those who are in the fight against fascism those who want to save democracy and the Constitution do not do this he saidMevanis supporters want to see him as the chief minister of Gujarat if the Congress comes to power and they are telling this to voters in his village meetingsAsked about this the MLA said It is for the Congress high command and party MLAs to decide who will be the chief minister of Gujarat First let the Congress get a majority and only then all these questions comeMevani expressed confidence he will win with a thumping majority for the second time from VadgamThe atmosphere here is in my favour more than what I had expected he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever