As Haryana Assembly poll nears, communities seek due share in ticket allocation

Nitish Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 8

As the Assembly elections are nearing, various communities and their leaders have started seeking due representation and ticket from political parties in the state.

While the Agarwal Vaish community, which has decided to run a campaign to unite the community members, is seeking 16 tickets for the community leaders from parties, the Ror community is seeking two from both the Congress and the BJP. Similarly, a section of the Punjabi community under the banner of Rashtriya Punjabi Mahasabha leaders has already announced that it would hold a meeting in Karnal and seek ticket from the Congress.

Sumit Garg, a spokesman for the Agarwal Vaish community, said: “The community members and leaders remain active in social service and there was a time when a number of MLAs from the community were in the Haryana Assembly. Now the community is not getting the due representation in politics and the parties haven’t been giving the ticket to community leaders in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.”

“It has been decided to unite the community members through a political campaign to show the presence of the community and seek ticket for community leaders in the Assembly election. We demand that at least 16 tickets should be given to our community leaders in the electiosn for which we have started asking the aspirants to start applying in their respective parties,” he added.

Rampal Palwal, a former senior vice-president of the Akhil Bhartiya Ror Mahasabha, said: “The community has a sizeable presence in 13 Assembly constituencies, and we have sought tickets from both the BJP and the Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections. We have met former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Chief Minister Nayab Saini. Both parties have assured that they will give due representation and tickets to the party leaders. We demand that at least the ticket in Assandh and Pundri be given to the community as it has a good presence there.”

Rashtriya Punjabi Mahasabha national president Ashok Mehta, said: “The community comprises 32 per cent of the population in the state, but it hasn’t been getting the due representation in politics. There is a sense of resentment among the community members as the community’s grievances are not being heard.

“We have started holding meetings with the community leaders across the state and invite them for the Punjabi Sammelan to be held in Karnal this month. We will seek adequate representation from Congress and demand ticket. We have already asked the promising aspirants to apply for the party ticket so that the Mahasabha could support them.”

Throwing their weight around

• The Agarwal Vaish community, which has decided to run a campaign to unite community members, is seeking 16 tickets
• The Ror community has urged both the Congress and the BJP to allocate two tickets each to their representatives
• A section of the Punjabi community has announced that it would hold a meeting in Karnal and seek ticket from the Congress