Punjab Congress Dalit, BC MLAs meet

CHANDIGARH: Over a dozen Punjab Congress MLAs from Dalit and backward caste communities met at Cabinet minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s residence on Tuesday and decided to approach party president Sonia Gandhi, besides chief minister Amarinder Singh, over the pending poll promises pertaining to the Dalit population of the state. Some other MLAs joined the meeting virtually and in all about 25 MLAs are believed to have joined the meeting.
The meeting is being seen in sequence with the two previous meetings of MLAs and Cabinet ministers to discuss the shortcomings of their own party’s state government ahead of the assembly elections early next year. Cabinet minister Aruna Choudhary also attended the meeting on Tuesday.
Sources said that the issue of alleged delay in justice in the sacrilege cases also came up for discussion and most of the MLAs expressed concern that it could affect the party’s poll prospects if visible action is not taken. However, when contacted, the MLAs insisted that the discussion was limited to the Dalit issues.
Incidentally, Channi was also present in the first ‘secret’ meeting of party leaders that was also attended by Navjot Singh Sidhu last week, followed by party leaders getting together at Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s residence on Monday. The previous two meetings were on the issue of ‘negative perception’ building against the Congress over the issue of sacrilege.
“Those who attended the meeting signed the representation to Sonia Gandhi and the chief minister. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh will also be approached to brief him about the unfulfilled expectations of the Dalit community. The discussion during the meeting was limited to this issue as the next elections are around the corner. It was not to express any dissent or against any party leader,” said an MLA who attended the meeting.
Denying that there was any demand for the deputy CM’s post for a Dalit leader, another MLA said it discussed that in line with the large Dalit population in the state, the community should be given political and administrative share. “It was pointed out that SCs and BCs constitute 60% of the population in the state but many of their key demands were yet to be fulfilled. These include debt waiver for the Dalits,” said another MLA.