Punjab: Kejri woos SC community & promises free edu

Chandigarh, Dec. 7: In a bid to woo the Scheduled Caste community ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday promised to provide free education to their children, besides bearing their coaching fees for higher studies, if his party comes to power.

Addressing a gathering of people belonging to the community in Hoshiarpur district, Kejriwal attacked Charanjit Singh Channi, who is Punjab’s first Dalit chief minister, accusing him of playing “politics of vote bank” and claimed that he was seeking votes from them only because he belonged to the same community.

Punjab has nearly 32 per cent Dalit population.

Kejriwal, who has in recent weeks increased his visits to the pollbound state, asked the gathering to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party once, saying they had given many chances to rival political parties, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

He asserted that his party stands shoulder to shoulder with the SC community.

The Delhi chief minister told the people that he had brought five “guarantees” for the SC community.

Giving details, he said, it will be the party's responsibility to provide the best education free of charge to the children of the community if the AAP comes to power after the state assembly polls early next year. “If a child belonging to the SC community wants coaching, like we did in Delhi, for engineering, medical education, railways, IAS or any exam, his or her entire fee will be borne by the Punjab government,” Mr Kejriwal said.