Punjab Congress plays down protest by dalit leaders at party meet

CHANDIGARH : The issue of not giving due repersentation to the dalit samaj in the Punjab Congress caught the headlines when party leader and sufi singer Hans Raj Hans and his supporters raised anti- Congress slogans during the meeting of Scheduled castes wing of the party at Naya Gaon near here yesterday. AICC general secretary Asha Kumari, PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh and Shamsher Singh Dullo Chairman of SC cell were also present at the meeting. Capt Amarinder Singh who faced embarrassment over the charges of ignoring dalits in the party later played down the issue by saying that it was minor issue and he would take care of it.The trouble started when CLP leader Charanjit Singh Channi himself a Scheduled Caste said that Congress aprty has given due regard to the dalits and stated that he was appointed CLP leader and one of the three Rajya Sabha members is from Scheduled castes. At this point Hans Raj Hans got provocated and snatched mike from Channi. He started raising anti-Congress slogans and said that dalits were not given due repersentation in the party. He said that Valmiki Samaj was ignored. Some other leaders belonging to Dalit Samaj also started raising slogans. Hans Raj Hans was nominated for Rajya Sabha on the recommndation of Capt Amarinder Singh but later AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi replaced the name of Hans with Dullo. Hans carries the grudge that he was not adjusted so far despite promises made with him. There was commotion on the stage when Hans Raj Hans snatched the mike from Channi. While senior leaders helplessly saw the drama unfolding, the aides of Capt Amarinder Singh pacified Hans. Dullo who was present also endorsed the views of Hans that dalits are yet to get desired repersentation. Being the election year, Congress had called the meeting to rope in dalit voters. To assure dalits their due, Capt Amarinder Singh said that dalit leaders would be given 33 percent post of Chairmans when government is elected. Punjab has highest dalit population in the country with about 28 percent of total population of 2.77 crores.