Punjab’s next CM should be a ‘Dalit’ from Doaba: Meera Kumar
Monday, 05/01/2015
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Jalandhar : Urging dalits to play a pro-active role in Punjab politics, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar on Sunday said that the next Chief Minister should be a ‘Dalit leader’ from the Doaba region of Punjab.
The five-time Member of Parliament said that Doaba belt was the only region in the country, which accounts for the highest percentage of dalits which was close to 42 per cent. “Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir also have significant dalit population but the highest percentage of dalits in the country was in Doaba region of Punjab”, she said.
Meera Kumar asked the dalits that time has come to elect a ‘Dalit Chief Minister’ of Punjab. “Doaba region should bring a revolution in the Punjab politics by electing a Dalit CM, so that Begumpura, which was the birth place of Guru Ravidass Maharaj could be set up”, she said.
Flanked by Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary and his brother, ex-Local Bodies minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh said Meera Kumar was in Jalandhar to attend the 11th International seminar of Shri Guru Ravidass Foundation India at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall on Sunday.
Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, who was the chairman of the foundation conducted the seminar on life, teachings and philosophy of Guru Ravidass in Jalandhar. The seminar was also attended by Chamkaur Sahib MLA Charanjit Singh and Dhanaula MLA Mohammad Sadiq.
Addressing the gathering minus leading Congress workers from Doaba, the former Lok Sabha speaker hinted towards ‘Chaudhary brother duo’ sharing stage with her and said that they had a ‘CM candidate’ among them. “People have already elected Chaudhary Santokh, a dalit as an MP and sent him to the Centre government. Now, it was time to elect a Dalit Chief Minister from among you. Let Punjab politics witness a change this time”, she amidst a jam-packed audience. The senior Congress leader, who was the daughter of prominent dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram also maintained that dalits should not consider themselves weak in the society. “We have been blessed with the teachings of Guru Ravidass Bani, which has highlighted that the dalits were capable of changing their fortune through hard work”, she added.
Earlier, Chaudhary Santokh and Chaudhary Jagjit also addressed the gathering and highlighted the importance of the foundation, through which various works for the betterment of the dalits were being carried out.
Factionalism to fore again, senior Congress leaders give it a miss
Factionalism came to the fore again, as none of the senior Congress leaders reached the foundation programme on Sunday. All and all, it turned out to be a personal show of Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary and his brother and ex-local bodies minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh. Notably, the Chaudhary brothers were left all alone in the entire programme.
Even the lone Congress MLA from Doaba Tarlochan Singh Soondh also gave it a miss. At the same time, heavyweight Congress leader and former Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Satnam Kainth and others also did not come. None of the Congress leaders from Jalandhar, which is a reserved parliamentary seat with as many as three reserved assembly segments - Kartarpur, Phillaur and Jalandhar (West) turned out for the event. Even the number of Congress workers and local councillors were missing from the event, which saw a senior congress leader like Meera Kumar making it to the event.
