Deepkamal Kaur
If the Shiromani Akali Dal chose to ally with the Bahujan Samaj Party to win over the Scheduled Caste (SC) community ahead of the Punjab Assembly poll, the Congress played a trump card by giving Punjab its first Chief Minister from the community.
The decision to appoint an SC Chief Minister has the potential to swing the community’s votes in the ruling party’s favour, particularly
in Dalit-dominated Doaba region, say analysts. Keeping up the momentum, the Congress is learnt to be considering fielding Channi from
two seats — his home constituency Chamkaur Sahib and Adampur in Doaba.
The Chief Minister had already dropped a hint at this during his rallies at Adampur, Banga and Jalandhar Cantonment when he said, “Doabites, adopt me.”
Channi contesting from Adampur could impact the outcome in all 23 seats of Doaba, particularly the reserved eight segments of Adampur, Kartarpur, Phillaur, Jalandhar West, Phagwara, Banga, Sham Chaurasi and Chabbewal.
“Not only Ravidassias, even Mazhabis could opt for Channi. Whether or not he’s declared a CM candidate, the Dalit community has been viewing him as their man. The Congress has scored a point over its rivals by doing something other parties had only been thinking of. In Punjab’s Jat-dominated politics, it gave the first Dalit CM,” asserts prominent Dalit writer Des Raj Kali.
The “pro-farmer and pro-Punjab stance” adopted by the CM vis-agrave;-vis the recent security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur added to Channi’s stature, maintains Kali. Though leaders of various parties have been visiting Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar, a rousing reception was accorded to Channi when he was elevated to the top post in September last, said a youth activist. For his part, Channi had chosen the dera premises to announce the setting up of Guru Ravidass Chair on 101 acres of land adjoining the dera for research on the Guru’s life.
To balance out with other castes, Channi recently got set up a Punjab State General Caste Commission and made Jalandhar-based Dr Navjot Dahiya as its chairman. Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal too has not left any stone unturned when it comes to wooing the Dalits of Doaba. Though his initial decision to keep the reserved seats of Adampur, Banga and Phillaur with the SAD backfired as ally BSP protested, he managed to quell the resistance. On his insistence, his party’s cadres arranged massive rallies in favour of the BSP state chief, Jasvir Garhi, in Phagwara. The SAD leadership has been time and again attacking the Channi government for not being able to recover Rs 100 crore SC Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme grants from colleges.
Eye on those chasing foreign dreams in the state’s NRI belt (as Doaba is known), the Akali Dal promised a ‘Student Education Card’, which will offer Rs 10 lakh interest-free loan for college studies, IELTS fee and admission in foreign colleges. To counter it, Channi announced free IELTS, TOEFL and PTE coaching.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too has a “Dalit guarantee card” ready. AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, at a recent event, announced if voted to power, his party would foot the coaching bill of SC students wanting to pursue engineering, medical or other courses or prepare for competitive examinations. “If any SC community child wishes to pursue graduation and post-graduation abroad, the expenses will be borne by the state government,” he had said.
Kejriwal had chosen to launch his women guarantee card offering Rs 1,000 per month to all 18-plus women from Kartarpur reserved seat constituency. “All seemed going well for AAP till it erred in the distribution of ticket, as it did in 2017. The selection of candidates has created a major rift between the old and the new guard, something that spilled onto the streets recently during the visit of party’s Punjab affairs incharge Raghav Chadha,” says Sukhdeep Apra, a youth activist.
The BJP, for its part, has set up its state office in Jalandhar and has been mobilising party cadre. Party leaders Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Meenakshi Lekhi have been camping here and are meeting people, trying to rope in prominent faces, especially Mazhabi Sikhs. The party workers have been sharing booklets and videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “pro-Sikh decisions”.
The Doaba’s NRIs, who favoured AAP in the 2017 Assembly elections, haven’t revealed their cards yet, probably due to the Omicron scare. “If at all they get active in the coming weeks, they may side by the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political outfit floated by farmers who led protests against the three central farm laws,” claims Jaswinder Sangha, a prominent potato grower.
The farmers’ party is learnt to be consolidating support in Assembly segments such as Jalandhar Cantonment, Nakodar, Phagwara and Adampur in Doaba.
People don’t want too many welfare schemes. Public funds must be used rationally. How can freebies like Rs2,000 monthly allowance for women work when the state doesn’t have adequate finances? — Capt IS Dhami (retd), Jalandhar
Parties must include a bailout package for the industry. The government rolled out the ‘Punjab Invest’ scheme, but setting up a new unit still remains much more complex here as compared to neighbouring states. — Rajiv Kumar, Kapurthala businessman
How parties fared in 2017 elections
Congress 15
AAP 2
SAD 5
BJP 1
Total assembly seats 117
Challenges they face
Cong: Failure to handle post-matric scholarship scheme
SAD: Ensuring proper support from ally Bahujan Samaj Party
BJP: Getting good candidates from rural seats
AAP: Rebellion from the old guard
1 Bholath
2 Kapurthala
3 Sultanpur Lodhi
4 Phagwara
5 Phillaur
6 Nakodar
7 Shahkot
8 Kartarpur
9 Jalandhar West
10 Jalandhar Central
11 Jalandhar North
12 Jalandhar Cantt
13 Adampur
14 Mukerian
15 Dasuya
16 Urmar
17 Sham Chaurasi
18 Hoshiarpur
19 Chabbewal
20 Garhshankar
21 Banga
22 Nawanshahr
23 Balachaur
Voters’ pulse Doaba: Advantage Cong here
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