Congress’ anti-Dalit face to fore in ticket distribution for Punjab polls: AAP

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 26

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha has accused the Congress of being anti-Dalit and said their anti-Dalit face has come to the fore in ticket distribution for Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections.

He said the Congress has always used SC community for votes. Congress made an SC leader, Charanjit Singh Channi, their chief minister for few weeks, to do vote bank based politics in Punjab. He said behind this step of Congress’s their only intention was to divide the people of Punjab on religion-caste basis and woo SC voters in their favour.

During a press conference at the party headquarters on Wednesday, Raghav Chadha said the Congress does not have a place for Dalit leaders and their high command has always been a supporter of nepotism in politics. Raghav Chadha claimed that the Congress high command gave tickets to all the big Congress leaders of Punjab, their brothers and nephews, sons and even sons-in-law as per their demands, but brother of CM Channi was denied the ticket even after he clearly expressed his desire to contest assembly elections.

Chadha gave examples that Congress gave ticket to Sunil Jakhar’s son from Abohar, Amar Singh’s son to contest from Raikot, MP Santosh Chaudhary’s nephew from Kartarpur. Similarly Avtar Henry’s son from Jalandhar (Rural), former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar’s daughter-in-law Karan Kaur from Muktsar, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s nephew Sumit Singh from Amargarh, Vikram Bajwa, son-in-law of former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhathal, from Sahnewal, Former MLA Surjit Dhiman’s nephew was given ticket from Sunam and Brahm Mohindra’s son has been fielded from Patiala (Rural).

Raghav Chadha said that the Congress party did not accept the appeal of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who belongs to SC community, to give ticket to his brother even after he’d practically begged for it. He said that Congress as per its tradition has applied ‘use and throw’ at Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

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