Chandigarh, January 26
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha accused the Congress party of being anti-Dalit and said that their anti-dalit face has come to the fore in their ticket distribution for Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections. He said that Congress party 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 that 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 that the Congress does not have a place for dalit leaders and their high command has always been a supporter of nepotism in politics. To substantiate his claims of Congress being anti-dalit political front and high on nepotism, Raghav Chadha said 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.
To solidify his claims, 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 and his son will field from Phillaur. Similarly Avtar Henry’s son from Jalandhar (Rural), former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar’s daughter-in-law Karna 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. “Channi has been used as a ‘night watchman’. Congress has shown its anti-dalit mentality by denying the ticket to Channi’s real brother,” and added that Congress only does the politics of nepotism. Congress does not function on the policy of ‘one family-one ticket’ like Aam Aadmi Party. Aam Aadmi Party opposes Congress’s napotism and anti-Dalit policy. Unlike other parties, Aam Aadmi Party give platform and opportunity to the people who come from common background. AAP’s MP and Chief Minister Candidate Bhagwant Mann belongs to a simple family and he has successfully completed a long journey from the small village of Satoj to the Parliament.
Chadha said that it was not Channi who was insulted by refusing ticket to his brother but, the entire SC community. He said that it is an old habit of Congress, 18 years ago in Maharashtra, Congress made an SC Chief Minister, Shushil Kumar Shinde, for two months and after elections they replaced him. He said that in Punjab, Channi’s face is being used in similar manner. Today, Channi is disappointed and upset because of Congress’s anti-dalit policies and the people of Punjab are now aware of their (Congress’s) mentality too.
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