Rahul Gandhi to meet state Cong MLAs today - To discuss PPSC tussle, ways to win back state’s Dalits

Monday, 02/02/2015

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/rahul-gandhi-to-meet-state-cong-mlas-today/36833.html

New Delhi : Congress vice-pesident Rahul Gandhi will meet party legislators from Punjab over two days beginning tomorrow.

On the agenda will be two more items, apart from the state leadership tussle between PPSC chief Partap Singh Bajwa and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Top sources in Rahul’s office told The Tribune today that he would seek the opinion of legislators on two important issues that are bound to impact the party’s electoral prospects in future. These issues are mustering the support of Dalits and Punjabi Hindus.

“There is the issue of winning back the Dalit support besides appealing to sections of Hindus at a time when the BJP is silently making inroads into the state, perhaps to part ways with the Akali Dal. The BJP has made conscious attempts to woo the Dalits as also the Hindus, considered as their traditional supporters.

“The Congress needs a clear strategy to counter these two challenges,” said a source close to the AICC vice-president.

The 2011 Census shows that Uttar Pradesh has the largest chunk of the Dalit population in the country. But Punjab has the highest concentration of Dalits (31.9 per cent).

There is a growing realisation within the Congress camp of the manner in which the Punjab BJP is wooing the huge Dalit vote bank in Punjab.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently appointed Vijay Sampla, a Dalit leader from Hoshiarpur, as Minister of State (MoS) and then appointed another Dalit, Ram Shankar Katheria, not just as MoS, Education, but also in charge of the party affairs in Punjab.

Rahul Gandhi will ask the Punjab legislators about the way forward. To a question on how the party would discuss other issues when the leadership matter remained unresolved, Congress sources said Rahul would have “open-minded” discussions with the MLAs on how to go forward on the leadership issue in a way that was acceptable to all.

“There will be open discussions. The Congress vice-president, having met both Bajwa and Capt Amarinder in the past, is aware of the issue and will form an opinion after meeting the MLAs.

“There is no decision yet on the leadership issue. The party will reflect on the matter only after engaging all MLAs from the state,” said a leader, adding that Rahul will meet MLAs in small groups of five or six each.