Jignesh Mevani tells the crowd in Mehdipura that when the votes are counted on December 8, the results will decide not his fate but the future of their children.

“If you press the lotus button even by mistake, this government is going to make your life much more difficult,” the Congress candidate, who has been rushing from village to village in the Vadgam constituency, says.

“Aa sarkar aapno ghugro tabai dese (This government is going to squeeze your...),” he adds, using a double entendre common in north Gujarat.

“Young people in the villages and cities have no jobs. The gas cylinder you are buying for Rs 1,100 will soon cost Rs 1,500,” Mevani tells the crowd, which has a large number of women.

Mevani had won the Vadgam seat, reserved for the Scheduled Castes, as a Congress-supported Independent in 2017 but is contesting on a Congress ticket this time.

Vadgam has turned into a key battle because Mevani is not just another Congress candidate but a powerful voice of resistance against the BJP.

“In Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi had experimented with the truth. Today, experiments with lies are being carried out here,” he says, drawing laughter and cheers.

Of the three firebrand young men from Gujarat who had led agitations against the ruling dispensation in the mid-2010s, Mevani is the only one to have held on to his anti-BJP position. The other two — Hardik Patel, who led the Patidar agitation for reservation and Alpesh Thakore, who spearheaded an OBC counter-agitation against it — have since joined the BJP.

Mevani had risen to national prominence leading protests against the public flogging of seven Dalits by selfstyled cow protectors in Una, Gujarat, in 2016. He is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch.

“He is not a regular politician. He is a revolutionary. Not only Gujarat; the country needs him,” says Karsanbhai Mangrol, a retired bank employee campaigning for Mevani. Karsanbhai was associated with the All India Bank Employees Association.

Kanhaiya Kumar, former JNU student leader and CPI activist who had joined the Congress last year like Mevani — who calls him a “dear friend” — turned up to campaign in Vadgam on Friday. Many senior Congress leaders too have campaigned for Mevani.

Amid the hectic campaigning, Mevani doesn’t seem interested in discussing the about-turns by Hardik and Alpesh. He, however, chides the media on being asked about the Congress’s lack of visibility in the campaign.

“It’s a media myth that the Congress is silent and not visible on the ground. The Congress has its own ways and own strategy to deal with elections,” he says. “There is a silent wave for change because people are suffering owing to price rise and unemployment.”

Mevani claims the hype over the Aam Aadmi Party is limited to social media.

Despite Mevani’s unwavering commitment and constant connect with the people, his supporters speak of “thoda (some) tension” this time.

“Caste factor ke chalte thoda tension hai (There is some tension because of the caste factor),” says Ishaqbhai, a villager.

Muslims and Dalits have a strong presence in Vadgam but so have the OBCs, particularly the Thakors, who can swing the elections. Mevani had won by a margin of 20,000 votes in 2017.

On Friday, state Congress president Jagdisbhai Thakor and the party MLA from the adjoining Vav constituency, Geni Thakor, campaigned for Mevani with the caste equations in mind.

Manilal Vaghela, former Congress MLA and a wealthy man, is the BJP candidate from Vadgam. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and the AAP are also in the fray and might play spoiler for the Congress. Mevani’s opponents are harping on his not being a local man.

Abida, a homemaker who had dropped her chores to come and listen to Mevani in Mehdipura, sounded confident about his victory.

“Jigneshbhai has won the trust of the people. He is immensely popular among the women. They will vote for him, breaking the caste barriers,” she says, giggling as Mevani cracks jokes in his speech.

■ Vadgam votes on December 5.