UPA's presidential candidate Meira Kumar expressed concern over the fact that even in 2017, people are being judged based on the caste they belong to.
The former Lok Sabha speaker, who kick started her presidential election campaign after paying respects to Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Ashram on Friday, said she was pained to see that this election is being reduced to a dalit verus dalit contest.
Meira Kumar, who arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday, met Congress MLAs and leaders at the state party headquarters and sought their support for the election. She asked them to vote by their “inner conscience”.
She told reporters that if elections were to be fought anywhere in the world on the basis of caste, people would have criticised it and urged the media to stand up against the same. She said she will strive to ensure freedom of speech and social justice and work hard to do away with poverty.
She also recalled how as a child she received the blessings of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Meira Kumar's visit coincided with second and last day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state. On Thursday, Modi had also visited Sabarmati Ashram to take part in its centenary celebrations.
The UPA presidential candidate's visit also brought together state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki and opposition leader Shankersinh Vaghela on one platform.
For quite sometime now, Vaghela has been critical of the party's working style and election related issues as the state goes to polls by the year end.
In the past, whenever Vaghela would address reporters in Gandhinagar, Solanki would also have a press conference in Ahmedabad on the same day in Ahmedabad.
