Gandhinagar, July 11 Firebrand Dalit leader and first-time Independent legislator Jignesh Mevani, who finds himself battling for his voice to be heard in the Gujarat Assembly, on Thursday alleged that the ruling BJP, with its brute strength, was bulldozing all his efforts to speak.
Having failed to raise the issue of recent murders of Dalits in Gujarat in the house, an upset Mevani told : "The ruling BJP and the Speaker appointed by it are just not letting me speak.""It is my right and my duty as a legislator representing the people of my constituency to speak on their issues. But the Speaker (Rajendra Trivedi) has turned down my right to speak.
"It has been three years since the shameful act of Una where Dalit youth were flogged on pretext of cow slaughter. I wanted to tell the House about its status.Moreover, I wanted to speak on various several other instances of caste discrimination and hate crime committed in the state. But the Speaker won''t let me," he alleged.