Friday, 26 January 2024 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
Dalits constitute 19 per cent population of the State & have traditionally supported the Congress party
The Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will kick-start the campaign of the grand old party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by addressing a public meeting and workers conclave in Dehradun on January 28. Apart from galvanising the party cadre and its ancillary organisations, Kharge in his visit is likely to woo the formidable Dalit vote bank in the State. After his anointment to the coveted position of the Congress party president in the year 2022, Kharge has succeeded in creating an image of a powerful leader.
Considering the fact that he was born in a Dalit family of Bidar district in Karnataka, Kharge commands respect in the Dalits and backward caste communities. The SCs constitute about 19 per cent of the population of Uttarakhand. As per the census data (2011) the SC population of the State stood at 18,92,516. In Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts the population of SCs is 28 per cent and 19.25 per cent respectively. The party hopes that Kharge will be able to attract the Dalit vote bank which used to vote for the Congress party but in recent years has split up.
Keeping the Dalit vote bank in mind the Congress high command had appointed veteran Yashpal Arya, a Dalit, as the leader of opposition (LoP) in the State Assembly after the party lost the 2022 Assembly polls to BJP. The appointment of Arya was made ignoring the claims of six-time MLA from Chakrata Pritam Singh and powerful leaders like Rajendra Singh Bhandari and despite the fact that Arya had come back to Congress from the ruling BJP only days ahead of the Assembly polls. Apart from the appeal of Kharge, the party hopes that Arya who is considered as the tallest Dalit leader in the State will push the SC votes into its kitty.
Faced by the formidable challenge of BJP which has swept all the polls held in the state after 2014 and is at present apparently riding a wave generated by the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Congress party is fancying its chances in Haridwar, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and Almora- Pithoragarh parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand. This assertion of the party leaders is based on the fact that Dalits constitute a good part of the population in these three constituencies and become a potent factor when combined with the Muslim population in Haridwar and Nainital- Udham Singh Nagar seats. It is no wonder that the maximum number of contenders including former chief minister Harish Rawat and cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat have thrown their hats for the party’s ticket from Haridwar.
Senior journalist Jay Singh Rawat told The Pioneer that Kharge’s visit will help the Congress party in winning back the confidence of Dalit voters in Uttarakhand. He recalled that the Congress party gained immensely when Yashpal Arya was the president of the State Congress.
