New PPCC President Navjot Sidhu’s meeting with the Dalit MLAs and Ministers at Chandigarh today, in which math of Dalit votes in the state have been discussed to ensure Dalit votes in the coming elections.
Sources claimed that Dalit MLAs, who have attended the meeting, demands that at least 3 Dalit Ministers to be inducted in the cabinet during the next reshuffling of the portfolios of Ministers. Apart from this, these MLAs also raised the point for the deployment of Dalit officers on the plum postings in the districts.
However, all the Dalit minister or MLA, attended the meeting has refused to provide the details of the meeting but it is learnt that they are happy to share their views with the Party President.
In the meeting with Sidhu, the Dalit MLAs have made it very clear that keeping in view of about 32 percent Dalit population in Punjab, their representation should be seen in the government and bureaucracy.
At present, Dalits do not have adequate representation, due to which the Dalit community is not much happy with the government. Kuldeep Vaid, Ludhiana MLA said that the above issues have been raised in the party forum.
Rajkumar Verka, a close confidant of the Captain and MLA from Amritsar said that suggestions have been made for the Congress to come out strong in the next election. The right to change in the cabinet rests with the Chief Minister. The organization will apprise 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 High Command.
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Cabinet Minister Aruna Chaudhary said that whatever issues have been raised in the party forum, one-third of the total Dalit population of Punjab will get full representation in the government. However, she did not talk about the issues raised.
Navjot Sidhu, the new chief of Punjab Congress, who is undertaking tours and meeting with the workers to discuss about the organizational setup. On Friday, he held a meeting with the workers and leaders of Mohali, Ropar, and Fatehgarh Sahib.
(By Dinesh Sharma)