Gujarat government will be taught a lesson: Kejriwal

Ahmedabad: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday warned that the Gujarat government will be taught a lesson in the assembly elections next year unless it ends violence against Dalits. Addressing the media here, Kejriwal said that an environment of “suppression” was very much visible in Gujarat as Dalits were coming under attack repeatedly. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader spoke a day after some Dalits returning from a rally at Una were attacked by some people. The Dalits alleged that police took no action against the aggressors. “Police again did nothing to save them. This proves that the attackers are goons sent by the Bharatiya Janata Party government,” Kejriwal said. “I want to warn the Gujarat government that if they do not refrain from doing such things, people will teach them a lesson in the assembly polls next year that they will remember for a long time,” Kejriwal said. He said the BJP government first targeted the Patidar community and was now harassing the Dalit community. "It seems every community in the state is frustrated with the government and is raising its voice. There is 'jungle raj' (lawlessness) in Gujarat.” Kejriwal, who turned 48 on Tuesday, earlier flew into Ahmedabad and then reached Sarangpur to pay tributes to the late Pramukh Swami, the spiritual guru and head of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Santha who breathed his last on August 13. At Sarangpur, Kejriwal said: "He was a divine soul. He dedicated his entire life for the betterment of humanity and to promote Hindu culture. He kept on serving people his entire life." The AAP is beginning to make inroads in Gujarat and is on a membership drive all across the state.