Threatened by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati’s rising influence, the Congress high command is playing the Dalit-Brahmin card in Haryana to checkmate her popularity in the state.
For once, the claim of the predominant Jat community in Haryana was overlooked in the organisational change effected by the AICC on Friday.
Instead, Dalit leader Phul Chand Mulana was appointed the new Haryana PCC chief, a slot which has been lying vacant for over two years after former chief minister Bhajan Lal resigned.
Mulana, who belongs to Ambala district, was the education minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The BSP enjoys considerable influence in Ambala.
In the past, the BSP has secured Vidhan Sabha seats once in a while in Ambala and nearby Yamunanagar districts only. The BSP’s influence in other parts of the state is negligible.
Senior Congress leader Kuldip Sharma, son of four-time Lok Sabha MP Chiranji Lal Sharma, was appointed acting president of the Haryana PCC, replacing present incumbent Dr Ram Parkash.
The changes have assumed significance in the Haryana Congress in view of the threat it faced from the BSP and the dissidence, led by Bhajan Lal. There were also reports that both may join hands to form a formidable front against the Congress.
The party high command feels that a Dalit as its PCC president and a Brahmin as an acting chief, clubbed with a Jat chief minister, would take good care of the caste combination in the state.
With the Indian National Lok Dal, led by former chief minister Om Parkash Chautala, concentrating only on the Jats, the Congress is trying to bring the remaining castes to its side, said political observers.
Posted By Staff Reporter: Gurgaon City News
in Gurgaon News
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