West MP Kirit Solanki had to face protests from some Dalit activists at an event to mark the 127th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar in Sarangpur, Ahmedabad, on Saturday evening.
Some Dalit protesters were detained by the police, but the event passed off without any major hiccups.
Tight security arrangements were made in Sarangpur with deployment of over 500 cops and security personnel in view of Dalit activist and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani's threat a few days ago that BJP leaders would not be allowed to garland Ambedkar statue if the central government did not issue an ordinance safeguarding Dalits' interest by preventing dilution of SC / ST Act.
However, the event passed smoothly, barring the incident involving Solanki.
The Ahmedabad MP was among the host of BJP and Congress leaders, besides others, who went to Sarangpur. Dalit protesters created ruckus, and chanted slogans against Solanki, and allegedly tried to obstruct him from garlanding the statue. They also asked him to speak against rising atrocities on Dalits.
The police immediately detained the protesters, who belong to the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, even as Solanki quickly left from the scene.
No other untoward incident was reported during the event to mark the occasion in Sarangpur, said in-charge commissioner of police KLN Rao. "Seven people were temporarily detained for holding protest in the morning. Other than this, no other such incident was reported, and Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations were peaceful," Rao said.
Reacting to the incident, Mevani wrote on Twitter that the protest was to uphold Babasaheb's legacy, and a fight against those who enabled the murder of Rohith Vemula and Una Dalit flogging incident. He also described BJP as "anti-dalit to the core".
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani paid floral tributes to the Father of the Constitution in Gandhinagar.
Speaking with reporters, the CM described Ambedkar as a leader of the entire country, and reiterated that his government was committed to upholding the rights granted to all citizens by the Constitution.
The BJP said that its state chief Jitu Vaghani participated in Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations in Surat.
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