Nothing derogatory when it comes to calling out Modi: Mevani on ‘insulting’ Prime Minister

Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch convenor Jignesh Mevani, who recently won the Vadgam seat as an Independent candidate in the Gujarat Assembly election, is not apologetic for using “derogatory” language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 36-year old Dalit leader in his TV interviews and tweets has been pressing that PM Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who campaigned against him in his constituency, should apologise to him for saying that he received funds from groups linked with jihadis and for fooling people with false promises. Here’s a collection of Mevani’s sharpest remarks against the Prime Minister and his party leaders:

• The way this Prime Minister has cheated the youth of the country, we are deeply disappointed and frustrated. He has defrauded crores of unemployed youths after promising them jobs. He should apologise for cheating the people.
• I won’t apologise even if Congress President Rahul Gandhi asks me to do the same. This is my position.
• I would very pro-actively want to say again and again that Modiji, we are done with you; you are now boring to us. You have become old and uninteresting. You must retire and leave for the Himalayas; visit a Ram Mandir and ring bells there.
• Youth will lead now. Modi is getting mentally aged and irrelevant. Modiji, shut up and stop jumlebazi! Enough. You (Modi) have no content. Even at 70, Modi is calling himself youth. You should make way for youth like Anurag Thakur in the party. We want creative and innovative youth with some fresh ideas in competitive politics.
• The country is ready for change. People of the state understand that the Gujarat model is a deception. That's why against the target of 150 seats, BJP could manage to win only 99. And it is just the beginning. A storm is about to come for a drastic change in the country.
• We took ₹51,000 as donation from the Popular Front of India (PFI) for our campaign. If PFI is a dubious group, then what is the man with a 56-inch chest doing? Why has there been no action from him?
• Narendra Modi was the respected Prime Minister of the country. He is now just a Prime Minister. He could not do anything for the farmers, workers and youth of the country. His policies have proven disastrous. He has lost our respect.
• What is so derogatory in what I am saying about Modi? Don’t you know his character? He will get more insults and abuses from the people in the days to come. His government dragged Rohit Vemula’s mother, Radhika Vemula, by her hair.

“Modi deserves mockery. Yes, office of PM has it's own dignity but when a megalomaniac functions as a presidential man, where person is larger than party or nation, and builds an empire by mocking others, spreading hate and lies, he deserves insults and mockery.. #RighttoMockModi,” posted Sanjukta Basu on Twitter. Others, who threw weight behind him, see a strong leader in him, maintaining that Mevani is using a language that the BJP understands.

On the other side, Mevani is also in the line of fire for using “shameful and disgraceful” language against the Prime Minister of the country. Several Twitter users have targeted Mevani for ‘insulting’ the “hardworking and honest” Prime Minister who, they said, is almost of his father’s age. They labelled him as “crass and arrogant” and some even went a step further calling him a “poisonous snake.”

But the defiant young leader has vowed to raise the issues concerning farmers and labourers in the state Assembly and on the street. In a series of tweets, he continued mocking Modi and his party leaders.

Mevani, reacting to his critics, posted on twitter: “Dear Trolls - Who promised 15 lakh rupees? Who promised 2 crore jobs? Who promised no terrorism? Who promised no hike in petrol, diesel, gas cylinder? Who promised safety of Dalits and minorities? Who promised waive off in farmers loans? #ModiCheatsIndians.”