New PPCC President NavjotSidhu’s meeting with the Dalit MLAs and Ministers at Chandigarh today, in whichmath of Dalit votes in the state have been discussed to ensure Dalit votes inthe coming elections.
Sources claimed that DalitMLAs, who have attended the meeting, demands that at least 3 Dalit Ministers tobe inducted in the cabinet during the next reshuffling of the portfolios ofMinisters. Apart from this, these MLAs also raised the point for the deploymentof Dalit officers on the plum postings in the districts.
However, all the Dalitminister or MLA, attended the meeting has refused to provide the details of themeeting but it is learnt that they are happy to share their views with theParty President.
In the meeting with Sidhu,the Dalit MLAs have made it very clear that keeping in view of about 32 percentDalit population in Punjab, their representation should be seen in thegovernment and bureaucracy.
At present, Dalits do nothave adequate representation, due to which the Dalit community is not muchhappy with the government. Kuldeep Vaid, Ludhiana MLA said that the aboveissues have been raised in the party forum.
Rajkumar Verka, a closeconfidant of the Captain and MLA from Amritsar said that suggestions have beenmade for the Congress to come out strong in the next election. The right tochange in the cabinet rests with the Chief Minister. The organization willapprise them about the suggestions of Dalit MLAs and leaders regarding this.The final decision is to be taken by the Chief Minister and the Congress HighCommand.
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Cabinet Minister ArunaChaudhary said that whatever issues have been raised in the party forum,one-third of the total Dalit population of Punjab will get full representationin the government. However, she did not talk about the issues raised.
Navjot Sidhu, the new chiefof Punjab Congress, who is undertaking tours and meeting with the workers todiscuss about the organizational setup. On Friday, he held a meeting with theworkers and leaders of Mohali, Ropar, and Fatehgarh Sahib.
(By Dinesh Sharma)