CHANDIGARH: The Congress's prominent
Dalit face, Amritsar (West) MLA
Raj Kumar Verka, briefed party chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday about poor representation to the community in the recent cabinet expansion.
According to sources, a group of Congress legislators, including Verka and deputy speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti, pointed out to the party leadership that among the Dalit community, it was the Valmiki and Majbi Sikhs who were feeling left out. The other two sections of the SC/ST community, Ravidassia and Adidharmi, already have representation in the cabinet, they said.
Verka confirmed that he got a chance to have a word with Rahul at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on Monday. "It is an internal matter of the party and the leadership has assured to address it," said Verka, who was at the event, along with 17 other MLAs, from the state. "The four castes in Dalit community have been getting political representation in equal numbers and that has always been the case. This time the Congress leadership seems to have got its arithmetic wrong as it is not the question of pushing the case of one particular aspirant for a cabinet berth," said Verka.
As per 2011 Census,
Punjab has the highest percentage of SC population among all states of the country.
Rahul Gandhi