Caste, community politics also at play in Panchkula MC poll

Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 25

Though parties and their candidates tried to portray as if they only sought votes on the agenda of development, it is no secret that they tried to mobilise electorate on the basis of their community or caste.

From holding caste-based gatherings to making vote appeals through caste groups, candidates left no stone unturned to shape election results in their favour.

The two communities, Aggarwals and Punjabis, were overtly wooed by both the BJP and the Congress till the last minutes of campaigning.

Former Home Minister and Congress leader Subhash Batra, who was addressing a press conference on behalf of his All-India Punjabi Jagrati Manch today, talked about his caste multiple times in order to woo voters from the Punjabi community.

Off course, Batra spared no effort to establish his party’s image as “pro-Punjabi” before city voters.

On December 22, the Congress fielded former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla and its local face Vijay Bansal, all from the Aggarwal community, for campaigning.

All leaders shared the stage before the media while they made an appeal apparently aimed at voters from the Aggarwal community.

The BJP took similar steps.

On December 19, the BJP’s mayoral candidate, Kulbhushan Goyal, who himself is from the Aggarwal community, attended a programme hosted by the Aggarwal Trust, of which he is vice-president.

The event, attended by prominent community members, was seemingly an attempt by the party to consolidate its traditional vote base.

In a last-ditch effort, Goyal’s press release today claimed a number of caste groups, including Brahmin Samaj, Punjabi Samaj, Garhwal Sabha, Vishwakarma Samaj Sabha, Panchkula and OBC Samaj, had extended their support to the BJP. 

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