26 august 2024 : Ahead of the coming by election to the four assembly segment, Hoshairpur, Barnala, Gidderbaha and Gurdaspur, Congress leaders have sought 12.5 per cent reservation quota for Mazhabi/Valmiki in party’s organisational structure and ticket allocation.
The demand comes days after the Supreme Court upheld powers of the state governments to create sub-classification within the reserved categories for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — which secures the 12.5 percent reservation of Mazhabi Sikhs/Balmikis in Punjab. The sub-categorisation for reservation in Punjab has been there since 1975.
The issue has cropped up in the party’s state unit in the recently held Parliamentary election that saw Congress getting seven of the 13 parliamentary seats in the state.
Flagging the issue, former MLA from Jandiala Sukhwinder Singh Danny, a Mazahabi Sikh leader, has written to the party President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, seeking implementation of 12.5 per cent SC quota for Mahzabhi/Valmiki candidates in party’s organisational structure and ticket allocation.
Giving statistics, Danny said Mazhabi Sikhs constitute 31.6 per cent and Valmikis 11 per cent of the total SC population. Giving the quota on party platform would help uplift the communities, deprived socially and economically.
The MLA has further asserted that in the true essence of justice for Dalits, the quota within quota was must for uplifting the “Atti Dalits”. The concept of creamy layer is unconstitutional and unnatural, and must be discarded wholly to bring equality of opportunity and justice in the social fabric of Indian society.
Former MLA from Amritsar (West) Raj Kumar Verka said the awareness was growing among the SC communities on the political platform and the party should give due consideration to the allocation of tickets.
In the coming by election to the four seats, the Chabbewal seat is a reserved assembly segment. ‘The choice of the candidate depends on the voters’ population of the particular SC community in the segment. The ticket is decided accordingly”, said a senior PPCC leader.
