››DISSENT: 2 MORE CONG MLAS QUIT PARTY POSTS,
DIRBA (SANGRUR)/CHANDIGARH: The induction of nine new ministers into the Punjab cabinet has fuelled open revolt against what MLAs are calling “rewarding of loyalty over merit.”
Hours before the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, two more MLAs resigned from party posts in protest against “inadequate representation” of backward classes (BCs) and scheduled castes (SCs).
Addressing a joint press conference, Amargarh MLA Surjit Dhiman and Balluana MLA Nathu Ram alleged that the high command has ignored their communities and disappointed Dalit voters in the state. While Dhiman belongs to Ramgarhia community, Nathu Ram is Dalit leader.
Of the nine ministers who took oath, none is a Dalit or OBC. Of the eight ministers who were sworn in when Congress government was formed last year, three are Dalits. Deputy Speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti is also from the community.
But the intra-caste arithmetic has not been taken into consideration as there is no representation to the Valmiki community. Dhiman was vicepresident of the Punjab Congress while Nathu Ram was its general secretary. They said they have resigned from these positions, but would remain party members and continue as MLAs.
On Friday, Hoshiarpur’s Urmur seat, Sangat Singh Gilzian, had resigned from party posts after being left out.
“I have no greed for any ministry but there is no minister in the state cabinet who belongs to the BC community,” said Dhiman, who is three-time MLA.
Two-time Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Navtej Singh Cheema too expressed his resentment over being left out. “I am the only Jat Sikh face in the Doaba region fulfilling all the criteria. Getting a ministry was my right, which the party has given to a junior MLA,” Cheema said. From Doaba , twotime MLA from Hoshiarpur, Sunder Sham Arora, has made it to the cabinet as a Hindu face.
NO SWOLLEN FACES: CM
Denying any “unfairness” in the selection of the new cabinet ministers, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said adequate representation had been given to all sections and regions, with seniority as the key criteria.
“There were no swollen faces in the party,” he said responding to questions from journalists in a chat after the swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here.
On three MLAs quitting party posts after failing to find a berth in the cabinet, Captain said all issues would be amicably resolved. “The state has 7,000 jobs, ranging from the market committees to the planning boards, that can be given to party workers,” he added.
Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar made no bones about whose writ ran in the cabinet expansion. “It is natural for some deserving MLAs to feel aggrieved. But it is the CM’s prerogative on who he wants in his team,” he said.
AMARINDER DENIES ‘UNFAIRNESS’ IN PICKING NEW MINISTERS, SAYS MANY POSTS IN GOVT TO PACIFY ‘AGGRIEVED’ LEGISLATORS