Ramgarhias ignored in 1st list: State Cong ex-chief
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 16
Upset over the “neglect” of the Ramgarhia community in the allocation of Congress tickets for the Punjab Assembly elections, HS Hanspal, former Punjab Congress chief, today said that the list was dominated by Jat Sikhs.
No representation had been given to Ramgarhias who have remained strong supporters of the party over the years, he said.
“Punjab Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh was from the Ramgarhia community but now, not even a single seat has been given to the community so far,” said Hanspal.
He said he had already conveyed his anguish in this regard to the screening committee of the party.
Hanspal said that of the 61 tickets allotted so far, 44 per cent had been given to Jat Sikhs and 19 per cent to Hindus. Other backward classes have been given 5 per cent, but none to the Ramgarhias. As many as 26 per cent seats have gone to the Dalits.
He said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has put up Hira Singh Gabaria and Gurmeet Singh Kular of the Ramgarhia community. Likewise, AAP has given ticket to Gurpreet Singh Gora and Kultar Singh Sandhwan.
Hanspal said that the community has strong presence in Amritsar, Ropar, Ludhiana and Mohali districts. Recently, the SAD-BJP government had appointed Sohan Singh Goga as Chairman of the Punjab Ramgarhia Welfare Board.
Prominent leaders of the community are grouping to form a front at the national level to take up the cause of the community.
Rajpal, former general secretary of the PPCC, said the party had given a raw deal to ticket aspirants from the community. “How can leaders of the community ask for votes if they are not politically represented?” said Rajpal, a ticket aspirant from Ropar and Kharar.
A senior leader of the party said that efforts are being made to balance out the caste combinations.
BOX: 2 more lists expected
Sources said that two more lists of candidates are expected. In case the central election committee meeting scheduled for December 21 is postponed, the party could release the second list of about 15 candidates who candidature have already been cleared but were withheld for certain reasons. Some candidates have requested the top leadership to delay the announcement of their names for different reasons. The second list will be out after the meeting of the central election committee.
