Targeted for being Valmiki: Hans

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 10

Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans today claimed he was in London when he got a call from PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh yesterday asking him to file his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha.

He minced no words in condemning Ravidassia Congress leaders. “I was denied the nomination due to lobbying by Ravidassia leaders who could not see my progress since I represent the Valmiki community,” he alleged.

Terming the development as a direct polarity between the Ravidassias and the Valmikis, Hans, who joined the Congress a few days ago, launched a scathing attack on Dalit leaders, particularly Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Shamsher Singh Dullo and Santosh Chaudhary. “All these leaders had conspired against me during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009. Now, they have once again colluded against me since I am a Valmiki. The leaders from my community are not strong enough to lobby for me,” he said.

Hans said: “I was in London to canvass for the party. I had barely stayed there for a night when I received a call from Amarinder Singh saying that there was a positive development for me and that I should return. I was told that I had been chosen for nomination to the Rajya Sabha and that AICC chief Sonia Gandhi had okayed it. I returned to Chandigarh yesterday and was told to prepare for filing papers. But before I could go on, these leaders started campaigning aggressively against me.”

Hans said the PPCC chief and Kewal Dhillon had supported him. “Today, nearly 10 MLAs gave their consent for my name, but they had to bow down before the Ravidassia leaders who had threatened to resign.”