Congress' Pawan Khera on Sunday reacted to the alleged attack on the party's tribal leader Anant Patel and said that anyone who does not get manipulated by the Bharatiya Janata Party gets attacked.
"Yesterday our MLA was attacked as he brought the Central and State government to its knees. Anyone who is not influenced by this government gets attacked," said Congress leader Pawan Khera.
Congress MLA and Tribal leader Anant Patel was allegedly thrashed by goons in the Navsari district of Gujarat and later sent to jail on Saturday.
The tribal leader alleged that the chief of Zila Panchayat and his goons vandalized his car and beat him up when he was heading toward Khergam in Navsari for a meeting.
He further said that the goons also made casteist slurs at him saying that they won't let an Adivasi become a leader there.
"The chief of Zila Panchayat and his goons vandalized my car and beat me up when I was reaching Khergam, Navsari for a meeting. They said, you are becoming a leader being an Adivasi, we won't spare you; won't let an Adivasi walk here," Patel said.
The protestors also set ablaze a shop and vandalized the fire tender which reached the spot.
After the incident came to the fore, a huge crowd emerged protesting in his support on the last night and they vowed to block 14 districts, here, until the Zila Panchayat chief and his goons were caught.
The matter came while the political parties are preparing for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
Questioning Gujarat politics, Pawan Khera attacked Bharatiya Janata Party by saying, "its job is doing Hindu-Muslims."
Condemning the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that each member of the party will keep fighting for the rights of the Tribals till their last breathe.
"The cowardly attack by the BJP on our MLA Anant Patel ji, who fought for the tribal society against the 'Par-Tapi River Link Project' in Gujarat, is condemnable. This is the anger of the BJP government. Every worker of Congress will fight till the last breath in this fight for the rights of the tribals," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
( With inputs from ANI )
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