NEW DELHI: The BJP‘s Haryana unit on Wednesday dared the Congress party to name a chief minister candidate from the deprived class to prove their commitment to the very cause that it espouses. This as the the grand old party led by Rahul Gandhi ups the ante for a nation-wide caste census and tries to galvanise public by making it a poll issue for the upcoming Harayana polls.
The Haryana unit of the BJP touted itself as a more inclusive party to have elevated a chief minister from the OBC category, while accusing the grand old party of not walking the talk. The saffron party dared the Congress party to name Selja Kumari, who is a prominent Dalit face.
“The BJP has already nominated a chief minister from the backward class. Rahul Gandhi claims to strongly support the SC community. Let them (Congress) declare Selja ji as the chief ministerial candidate from Haryana so that one can know how much of a well-wisher of the (SC) community they are,” Haryana BJP posted on X in Hindi.
The Congress party however responded to the Haryana BJP’s jibe to pit a Dalit face. Harayana Congress president Udai Bhan exuded confidence to come to power and wondered why the saffron party was not worried more about that, according to news agency PTI.
Speaking about selection of the chief ministerial candidate, Bhan said Congress MLAs and the party high command will take a call on who would serve as the chief minister only after the poll results are out. He also said that the party had earlier nominated leaders from the Dalit community as chief ministers in four states, including Punjab and Maharashtra.
“The BJP should tell whom they have made a CM from the SC community. Moreover, they should tell if they declared Bhajan Lal Sharma as CM candidate when they fought the last assembly elections in Rajasthan. Did they fight the polls (in MP) on Mohan Yadav’s face. In Haryana, did they fight polls in 2014 with Manohar Lal Khattar as their face?,” Bhan asked.
The local president also defended the Congress party’s commitment to backward classes by pointing out to Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Tika Ram Jully coming from the Dalit community.
Bhan said, “One thing is clear: the BJP has accepted that Congress is coming to power in Haryana…”
“That is why they are coming up with excuse of string of holidays falling around the polling date of October 1 and writing to Election Commission to defer the polls by some days… We are saying even if polling is held even before October 1, we have no objection and we are ready,” he added.
The Haryana BJP had last week written to the Election Commission requesting a brief postponement of the Assembly polls slated for October 1, citing holidays before and after the election date that could lead to lower voter turnout.
( with agency inputs)
The Haryana unit of the BJP touted itself as a more inclusive party to have elevated a chief minister from the OBC category, while accusing the grand old party of not walking the talk. The saffron party dared the Congress party to name Selja Kumari, who is a prominent Dalit face.
“The BJP has already nominated a chief minister from the backward class. Rahul Gandhi claims to strongly support the SC community. Let them (Congress) declare Selja ji as the chief ministerial candidate from Haryana so that one can know how much of a well-wisher of the (SC) community they are,” Haryana BJP posted on X in Hindi.
The Congress party however responded to the Haryana BJP’s jibe to pit a Dalit face. Harayana Congress president Udai Bhan exuded confidence to come to power and wondered why the saffron party was not worried more about that, according to news agency PTI.
Speaking about selection of the chief ministerial candidate, Bhan said Congress MLAs and the party high command will take a call on who would serve as the chief minister only after the poll results are out. He also said that the party had earlier nominated leaders from the Dalit community as chief ministers in four states, including Punjab and Maharashtra.
“The BJP should tell whom they have made a CM from the SC community. Moreover, they should tell if they declared Bhajan Lal Sharma as CM candidate when they fought the last assembly elections in Rajasthan. Did they fight the polls (in MP) on Mohan Yadav’s face. In Haryana, did they fight polls in 2014 with Manohar Lal Khattar as their face?,” Bhan asked.
The local president also defended the Congress party’s commitment to backward classes by pointing out to Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Tika Ram Jully coming from the Dalit community.
Bhan said, “One thing is clear: the BJP has accepted that Congress is coming to power in Haryana…”
“That is why they are coming up with excuse of string of holidays falling around the polling date of October 1 and writing to Election Commission to defer the polls by some days… We are saying even if polling is held even before October 1, we have no objection and we are ready,” he added.
The Haryana BJP had last week written to the Election Commission requesting a brief postponement of the Assembly polls slated for October 1, citing holidays before and after the election date that could lead to lower voter turnout.
( with agency inputs)
#Dalit #BJP #Cong #spar #face #Haryana #caste #census #debate #India #News #Times #India
