Jignesh Mevani won't; Hardik Patel will contest 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Dalit leader and independent MLA from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani clarified on Wednesday that he will not contest the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This comes after months of speculation that the youth leader will jump into the poll fray after he backed Opposition and travelled across the country addressing the youth.

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel, who also attended the Save Constitution, Save nation rally held in Rajkot on Wednesday, said he has not yet decided the constituency he will fight from. "I want to contest the elections but it is not yet decided where I will contest from," he said.

"I am not contesting elections," said Mevani, at a press conference held prior to the rally held in Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's constituency. "I will, however, campaign against the BJP." The rally was organised by former Congress MLA Indranil Rajguru.

Apart from Mevani and Patel, former president of JNU Students Union Kanhaiya Kumar was also present.

Addressing people after the hour-long rally, Mevani said that the BJP had promised 10 crore jobs but could not even keep even 1 per cent of the promise. "They built Sardar's (Patel) statue for Rs 3,000 crore. I would request them to build general hospitals in the name of great leaders such as Patel and Babasaheb Ambedkar, because that is what they would have wanted," he said.

The youth leaders used the platform to hit out at the ruling BJP. Patel said the state government had tried to stop the rally from being held, while Kanhaiya Kumar said it was misusing constitutional bodies for its benefit.

"We are not traitors or anti-nationals," he said. "So far, the sedition case against me has not been proved in a court of law." Kumar also said that he would campaign against the BJP.