Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday met engineer Harshadhipati Valmiki who was reportedly thrashed by Girraj Singh Malinga, sitting MLA from Bari, and his supporters in Dholpur.
Kharge said it was shameful that the BJP fielded Malinga, who was refused a ticket by Congress after he was accused of brutally thrashing an engineer. Valmiki, a Dalit, has been bedridden since the brutal thrashing in March 2022.
Rajasthan Chief Minister said the BJP has written a “black chapter” in the history of Rajasthan politics by giving a ticket to Malinga, adding that the decision to field Malinga betrays the “anti-Dalit” mindset of the BJP. He added that the BJP was desperate to win the elections at any cost.
#WATCH | Jaipur, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge reaches SMS Hospital to meet AEN Harshadipati Valmiki; says, “…After analysing it, Rahul Gandhi and I decided that if a person committed atrocity towards SC and attempted to murder in such as case if we give a ticket to that… pic.twitter.com/G5lE73z1wr
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2023
“We denied him the ticket to contest the election because of his action. On the one hand, the BJP talks about saving the poor. Prime minister himself says he is with the poor. But here he is dying. Giving a ticket to such a person by the BJP is shameful. I condemn it,” Kharge, accompanied by Gehlot, told reporters after meeting the bed-ridden engineer at SMS Hospital in Jaipur.
Gehlot said, “BJP wrote a black chapter in the politics of Rajasthan. They condemned the incident and then hugged the person involved in it, made him a party member, and gave him a ticket.”
“You can imagine to what extent BJP can stoop to come into power. This incident is an example. You can think about what the BJP’s thinking is. It is anti-Dalit thinking,” he said.
#WATCH | Jaipur: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot reaches SMS Hospital to meet AEN Harshadipati Valmiki; says, “The government will try to examine new provisions for such persons who commit heinous crimes. It was a huge incident. His life was saved after such an incident …BJP has set… pic.twitter.com/3PdSNxVa1z
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 18, 2023
A case against Malinga and others was registered after he was accused of assaulting two engineers at an electricity department office in Bari.
Malinga was arrested after he surrendered before the police commissioner in Jaipur. He is currently out on bail.