Punjab Congress feud over Dalit issue reaches Rahul Gandhi

The ongoing feud in the Punjab Congress over alleged anti-Dalit remarks of former state unit chief Sunil Jakhar reached the doorsteps of Rahul Gandhi on Thursday. Writes ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi: The ongoing feud in the Punjab Congress over alleged anti-Dalit remarks of former state unit chief Sunil Jakhar reached the doorsteps of Rahul Gandhi on Thursday. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit Sikh, who was given the top post a few months before the recent assembly polls, met Rahul in Delhi to lodge his complaint in the matter.

“Sunil Jakhar had been speaking against me for some time but I have never said anything. However, his comments against the entire Dalit community are condemnable. Nobody has made such remarks in the past 100 years,” Channi said after meeting Rahul. Earlier, Rahul had named Channi as the new chief minister after the party unceremoniously removed former chief minister Amarinder Singh.

It was thought that the appointment of Channi would help Congress beat anti-incumbency and also avoid the Akali Dal-BSP coalition from denting its traditional Dalit vote bank. Dalits in Punjab account for around 32 percent of the voters and form an influential group.

Though a blame game has been on in the Punjab Congress after the party was reduced to just 18 MLAs in the 117-member assembly, the recent controversy arose after Jakhar allegedly made some snide remarks against Channi without naming him during a TV interview. Though Jakhar alleged that his statement had been twisted and even expressed regret if the remarks had hurt anyone, the damage had been done.

Party MLA Raj Kumar Verka demanded that Jakhar be sacked from the party immediately while Dalit activist Jarnail Nangal submitted a memorandum to Phagwara Superintendent of Police Harinderpal Singh, demanding the registration of a case against the former state unit chief under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. Verka alleged that Jakhar was upset as he was not made a chief minister after Amarinder Singh was removed.

Earlier, while addressing a group of his supporters, Jakhar had claimed that he had received the maximum votes from the Congress MLAs before the elections when they had been asked to suggest an alternative to Amarinder. However, given the majority Sikh population in the northern state, it was a difficult decision for the high command which was monitoring the events.

Channi’s appointment as chief minister had been described as a masterstroke from the high command and it was thought that the move would also influence the Dalit voters in the other states Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that had assembly polls along with Punjab.

But the results belied Congress's expectations. Later, infighting, particularly the public spat between then state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Channi had been identified as one of the reasons which dented the party’s image and took the voters away from it. After the polls, there is an internal tussle going on among the leaders to get the post of state unit chief and the leader of the legislative party.

Sidhu too has become active even as the high command is reviewing the situation in Punjab. “You see, when one meets the party leader such issues are also discussed,” Channi said when asked if the Punjab Congress revamp was discussed in his meeting with Rahul.