Farmers Movement Archive

On Ambedkar’s b’day, BJP & SAD aim for polls, both promise Dalit CM, deputy CM

Jalandhar/Chandigarh: Former coalition partners, SAD and BJP, on Wednesday promised to make a Dalit deputy CM or chief minister, if voted to power after the next assembly elections in 2022. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced to have a Dalit deputy chief minister in Punjab, when the BJP is already trying to woo the Dalits. BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh too made a similar announcement that if his party came to power in Punjab there would be a chief minister from the Dalit community. Sukhbir, who was in Jalandhar to attend a function dedicated to Dr B R Ambedkar at Nakodar chowk, also announced to establish a new Ambedkar university in Doaba region. The party’s scheduled caste MLAs, other leaders from SC communities and scores of workers were present on the occasion. Notably, out of four MLAs of Akali Dal from Doaba region, three are SCs. His announcement to establish a university named after Dr Ambedkar seems to be a counter to that of Congress government’s to establish museum in Kapurthala district. BSP workers who were present on the occasion raised slogans against the Akali Dal as well as BJP. BSP district urban unit president Vijay Yadav, who was among those raising slogans against Akali Dal, said that SAD had first supported the three ‘black’ farm laws before parting ways with the BJP. Meanwhile, reacting to Sukhbir’s announcement, Delhi-based senior BJP leader R P Singh retweeted his (Sukhbir’s) video statement, saying: “But the fact is you denied deputy CM-ship to Chaudhary Swarna Ram ji in 2007 and Chunni Lal ji in 2012.” BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh announced that the chief minister would be from the scheduled caste community if the party comes to power in Punjab. He Chugh lambasted the Congress and the SAD for trying to mislead SCs in Punjab by alluring them with false promises of giving the deputy CM seat. Ridiculing the SAD president’s announcement on deputy CM from the SC community, he countered, “Why not the CM?”. The Akalis should break the practice of picking up chief minister from a family and also from a particular community, he added. Chugh also ridiculed the Punjab chief minister for making a false promise during the last elections of giving the deputy CM post to SCs. “Both the Congress and the SAD want to use them as a vote bank, whereas the BJP promises to pick up a leader from them for the seat of the chief minister of the state,” Chugh said. Regarding direct payment to farmers during the ongoing wheat procurement, he warned farmers against giving blank cheques to anyone, saying the Prime Minister wanted to empower farmers directly and it was time they realised his dream for bringing change in agriculture practice. However, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma hit out at SAD’s promise. He said SAD has a history of misleading voters and its announcement of having a legislator from the scheduled caste community as the deputy CM is nothing but a desperate move to gain lost political space. He said SAD is aware that it stands no chance in the elections in 2022. “It’s the 33% of the scheduled caste community which will decide its political course. Strangely, When in power, SAD never thought that the deputy chief minister should be from the SC community,” he said. Sharma said that the BJP is on record that it had requested the SAD to give prominent positions to the SC in ministerial berths and chairmanships. He added senior leaders of SAD did not listen to BJP.

The Times of India

2021-04-15

Chandigarh