Punjab’s 117 assembly seats will go to the polls on February 20. The state’s Dalit community – which makes up 32 percent of the population – is being courted from all political corners. The Akali Dal has offered the deputy CM’s post, the BJP has promised the CM’s seat, and the Congress has projected Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit, as the chief minister.
Newslaundry reached Nawanshahr in the state’s Doaba region to speak to Dalit voters about the issues – state-wide and local – that plague them, and which party they believe will best address them.
“The Dalit vote is the highest in Doaba, and Congress made Channi the CM, but he did nothing for four-and-a-half years,” said Ram Luhaya, a property dealer. He said there are three issues in these elections: development, employment and drug abuse. “The youth do not have any job, they sit at home after studies. The Congress government talked about curbing drug addiction, but even that remained only a promise.”
It is unlikely that Dalits will vote for a political party en masse in the upcoming elections, but in Nawanshahr, most seem inclined towards the Shiromani Akali Dal–Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. We spoke to them to find out why.
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