JOIN USNepotism charges galore in Cong's ticket distribution in Punjab
Charges of nepotism in the allocation of tickets by the Congress ahead of the crucial Punjab elections on February 20 has given fodder to the opposition which is now targeting the Congress for its ‘pseudo-anti-Dalit’ posturing.
The list of candidates released by the Congress high command smacks of nepotism as it includes tickets to kith and kin of senior Congress leaders, including the ‘nephew’ of Congress state president Navjot Singh Sidhu among others.
The Congress list has brothers, nephews, sons and even sons-in-law of Punjab Congress leaders. The opposition AAP is now trying to corner the Congress for its self-styled pro-Dalit posturing while rubbing the issue of Congress denying party tickets even to the brother of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
The Congress will release its last list of eight candidates tomorrow ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday where Gandhi intends to sit and to Partake Langar at the Sikh holy shrine. All 117 congress candidates have been asked to reach Amritsar on Thursday.
Apart from Navjot Singh Sidhu's nephew, Congress has named the son-in-law of former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhathal from Sahnewal. Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar's nephew has been named the party candidate from Abohar. MP Santosh Chaudhary's nephew has been given the ticket from Kartarpur. Senior Congress leader Avtar Henry's son is the Congress candidate from Jalandhar (Rural). Former CM Harcharan Singh Brar's daughter-in-law Karna Kaur has been fielded from Muktsar. Former MLA Surjit Dhiman's nephew is the party nominee from Sunam. Cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra's son has been fielded from Patiala (Rural).
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“The Congress party did not accept the appeal of CM Channi, who belongs to the SC community, to give a ticket to his brother even after he’d practically begged for it. Channi has been used as a night watchman. Congress has shown its anti-Dalit mentality by denying the ticket to Channi's real brother,” AAP's Raghav Chadha said. Raghav Chadha drew similarity citing 18-year-old Congress history in Maharashtra when Congress made an SC chief minister, Shushil Kumar Shinde, for two months and after elections replaced him.
However, Congress leaders rubbished these charges saying winnability has been the criteria in ticket allocation.
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