Chandigarh, April 21: While finalising the names of legislators for nine ministerial slots, the Congress high command has given in to various pressure groups within the party. This has been done keeping in mind the 2019 parliamentary elections.
No Dalit or OBC leader has been adjusted in the Cabinet expansion.
Eying the urban Hindu vote bank in Ludhiana, Sangrur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar, the party has brought in four Hindu faces – Vijay Inder Singla, hailing from the Aggarwal community, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sunder Sham Arora and OP Soni. With this, the party has covered the Malwa, Doaba and Majha areas.
The party has tried to strike a balance of age, religion and region. All nine being sworn-in have not been ministers earlier.
“A total of eight of 18 portfolios, including that of the CM, have gone to leaders from the Jat community. With just 18 per cent vote share, they have taken the majority share. This has annoyed the party leaders hailing from other communities,” said a senior Dalit leader.
To address the aspirations of the Dalit and OBC leaders, the party leadership is likely to appoint them at senior positions in the state unit or other political posts, it is learnt. The restructuring of the state unit is on the cards.
Ever since the Congress came to power, Dalit MLAs, while citing the 33 per cent vote share, have been pointing out “under-representation” in the Cabinet.
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
