Regional, minority groups haggle for Cong tickets



Amitabh Shukla


New Delhi, October 13

As the selection procedure of candidates enters a crucial stage, various groups — regional, professional, those having caste affiliations and minorities — have started demanding their share of Congress tickets according to their population percentage in Delhi.

Most of these groups within the Congress have already petitioned the key figures for tickets including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, AICC general-secretary Ahmed Patel, DPCC president Prem Singh, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other senior leaders.

The minority department of the DPCC has demanded at least 25 tickets for candidates from the minority community. Abdul Sami Salmani, president of the cell and general-secretary Solomon George demanded "proper justice" from the party.

They have asked for a 25 per cent quota saying that minorities make up at least one fourth of the city's population. Of these 25, a demand has been made to set aside two for Christians.

Not to be left behind, the South Indian Members Forum, a group within the Congress, has claimed that there are around 25 lakh South Indians and the tickets should be in proportion to their population. P.P. Raveendran, the group's chairman threatened to field 40 South Indians from various constituencies in Delhi if they did not get proper representation.

People from Poorvanchal (Bihar and eastern UP) and Uttaranchal have also started to flex their muscles to lobby for tickets for their candidates. Their leaders say that around 40 per cent people of Delhi come from these states and they should be "politically rehabilitated" through party tickets.

The professional groups -- retired DTC employees, safai karmcharis (mostly Dalits) and caste groups of Brahmins, Vaish and Sainis have also approached Congress office-bearers for their share of tickets. The Saini Sabha delegation has already met the Congress president and demanded five tickets for their caste members.

Interestingly, if the claims of all these sections are true, the total population of Delhi would be well over three crore. (2003)

http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/dalit.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/87ac57a932b092eae5256dc000508177

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