Who’s afraid of Bhim Army? Chandrashekhar Azad again turned back from a Rajasthan airport | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Since a March visit by Azad to family of a Dalit victim drew huge support, the Gehlot administration has kept him away.
BHIM ARMY founder Chandrashekhar Azad is apparently not welcome in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. For the past few months, every time the Dalit leader, who founded the Azad Samaj Party to contest elections, has tried to enter the state following an incident involving the Scheduled Castes, he has been stopped.
This week, Azad was stopped twice at Jodhpur airport, while on his way to Jalore to meet the family of the nine-year-old boy who died after allegedly being assaulted for drinking water from a pot meant for upper castes.
While the Bhim Army leader was stopped, among those who have met the family are Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief and MP Hanuman Beniwal with party MLAs, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Rohit Kumar Mehraulia, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra, and senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot.
The first instance when Azad was stopped was on April 3, when he and RLD national president Jayant Chaudhary were not allowed to proceed beyond Udaipur airport, while on way to Pali, to meet the family of Jitendra Meghwal, allegedly killed by upper caste men for sporting a moustache.
The RLD’s only MLA in Rajasthan, Subhash Garg, is a minister in the Ashok Gehlot government. Despite this, Chaudhary could not proceed, presumably because he was accompanied by Azad.
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