Gaddis write to Shah for ticket from Kangra

Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, February 10

Sanjay Kapoor, president, Himachal Gaddi Union and senior BJP leader, has urged the national president of BJP Amit Shah and state president Satpal Satti to allot party ticket to a Gaddi candidate from the Kangra-Chamba parliamentary constituency for the elections due in 2019.

Sanjay Kapoor along with other Gaddi leaders Vijay Bhatt, Gurmukh Singh, Madan Bharmori and Sanjay Jaryal said the Gaddi Union had recommend the name of Trilok Kapoor, vice-resident, All-India Tribal Morcha, for the ticket from the Kangra parliamentary constituency.

They said Trilok Kapoor was well-educated and has been in the national politics of the BJP for the past 15 years. They said the Gaddi community had always supported the BJP in the Assembly and parliamentary elections since 1980 when BJP came into existence in the country.

They said till date BJP ticket was never given to any Gaddi candidate from Kangra despite the fact it had a a sizeable number voters. They said the Gaddis had a major vote share in Kangra and Chamba districts having a total population of nearly 3 lakh. “Though we make for around 7 per cent of the total population, in government records the population of the Gaddis is shown very low. Gaddi is not a caste; it’s a community, which includes people from upper and lower castes,” said Sanjay Kapoor.