Summary:
Chandigarh, Jan 26 (PTI) The ECI decision to defer the polling date in Punjab by six days to facilitate the celebration of Guru Ravidas Jayanti by his devotees on February 16 shows how crucial are Dalit votes for various political parties in the state.
Punjab was originally scheduled to go to polls on February 14, but the poll panel, on representation from various political parties, deferred the voting day to February 20 to ensure that Guru Ravidas’ devotees do not miss voting due to their largescale travel from Punjab to Varanasi and back to celebrate the seer"s birth anniversary.
With Punjab’s scheduled caste population constituting 31.94 per cent of the state population, the highest among all states in the country, all the political parties are trying to woo them for the February 20 Punjab assembly polls.
As the Election Commission of India originally fixed the single-phase polling day in Punjab on February 14, two days ahead of the seer"s birth anniversary, all the political parties were quick to point out to the poll panel that the Dalit voters, being in transit between Punjab and Varanasi, may miss voting.
Initially the BSP, then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi followed by the BJP, Punjab Lok Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) and the AAP had urged the ECI to defer the polling day beyond the seer’s birth anniversary on February 16.
The importance of Dalit votes could also be gauged from the fact the Congress party last year had appointed Charanjit Singh Channi as the state’s chief minister, the first person belonging to the SC community to hold this post.