New Delhi:
These mistakes can happen when a political party wakes up belatedly from the slumber and tries to draw a political mileage without being sincere.
The so-called hyped 'Dalit card' vis-a-vis new Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has come to haunt the Congress.
New Punjab Chief Minister Channi, a Dalit legislator, took oath of office
on Monday in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.
But the entire show came a cropper as words spread quoting Rahul's trusted
lieutenant Harish Rawat (general secretary in-charge Punjab) that ensuing elections in Punjab will be fought under Navjot Singh Sidhu, pradesh Congress chief.
Of course, it is Sidhu-inspired politics that made Rahul-Priyanka Gandhi Vadra duo
sack Captain Amarinder Singh, 79. The former cricket star was also instrumental in
backing Channi's name for the chief ministership.
But Harish Rawat's words were a case of bringing the cat out of the bag.
Congress MP Suni Jakhar, the Hindu leader who almost made it as Chief Minister, questioned
AICC general secretary Rawat's reported statement.
He said such statements could only undermine the credibility and respectability of
the high office of the Chief Minister.
Describing Rawat's statement as 'baffling', Jakhar said: "It is likely to undermine CM's authority
but also negate the very 'raison d'tre' of his selection for this position".
Jakhar must be an upset man. His prospect of becoming Chief Minister was shot down after
likes of Congress veteran Ambika Soni played up the 'Sikh Chief Minister' card.
In between came some other names including that of Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
The BJP has not missed the opportunity to go unattended.
Amit Malviya, IT cell chief of the saffron outfit, said in a tweet that - "This s a huge insult
to the entire Dalit community if Charanjit Singh Channi has been made the CM only to hold
the seat for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the chosen Gandhi family loyalist. This completely undermines
the Dalit empowerment narrative being peddled by the Congress. Shame".
A section of Congress leaders has tried to give a spin that the move to make Channi the new
Chief Minister was reflective of Congress party's commitment towards Dallt community.
They cited that earlier this year, the Congress leadership and especially Rahul Gandhi had made
Mallikarjun Kharge the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha replacing a Muslim face Ghulam
Nabi Azad.
But now, the fresh politics over 'going to the polls' under Sidhu's leadership actually exposes
the Congress double standards.
"Dalits are now mere political pawns in Congress’s devious politics. In Punjab, they claim to
have made a Dalit CM, only to be posted as a night watchman, till Gandhi family loyalist
Sidhu takes over. But maintains deafening silence over lynching of a Dalit youth in
Rajasthan," Malviya wrote in another missive.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment