Dalit bastion in Doaba set to witness vote split

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, May 22

Even as former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi helped the Congress win five of the nine Assembly seats of Jalandhar in 2022 Assembly elections, he remained ineffective in his campaign in 2023 Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. This leaves a big question mark on how he fares as the candidate himself from here in the June 1 poll.

There is an estimated 37 per cent Dalit vote in the constituency on which he is largely banking, but since all contestants — Aam Aadmi Party’s Pawan Tinu, BJP’s Sushil Rinku, SAD’s Mohinder S Kaypee and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Balwinder Kumar — are heavyweight Ravidassia leaders, the SC votebank is set to witness a certain split.

‘Maya’s visit won’t make any difference’

• BSP supremo Mayawati is set to be in Nawanshahr on May 24 for a rally. The venue is a part of Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat from where party president Jasvir S Garhi is contesting. While the party’s cadre is expecting a swing post her rally, the Congress candidates from Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur are keeping a close watch.
• But scholars like Jodhka and GC Kaul are of the opinion that Mayawati would no longer be effective. According to Jodhka, she has lost credibility. Kaul is of the opinion: “She is being seen as a supporter of the BJP in Punjab. Her move to suspend a vocal Muslim MP like Danish Ali has also not gone down well within the community here”

This time, there is no Valmiki or Majhabi Sikh candidate from Jalandhar. The BJP had experimented with Majhabi Sikh leader Inder Iqbal Atwal in 2023 and SAD had fielded his father, Vidhan Sabha ex-Speaker Charanjit S Atwal, in 2019, but both tasted defeat.

Of the total 16.38 lakh total voters in Jalandhar, nearly 5 lakh voters are from Adidharam/Ravidassia/Ramdassia community and nearly 2.7 lakh from the Valmiki/Majhabi Sikh community. A big race is also on to woo the Valmiki voters.

BJP Manoranjan Kalia has been frequently telling in his rallies: “It is only the BJP that has given two of the four SC seats in Punjab to Valmiki candidates (Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot and Gejja Ram Valmiki from Fatehgarh Sahib), the other parties have ignored them completely”. He gave this speech in Valmiki-dominated Ali Mohalla of the city day before. Since the community has a sizable representation in Shahkot also, the same narrative is being repeated there too.

Candidates of all parties are making multiple visits to the deras of Ravidassia community, Valmiki ashrams and even Radha Soami Dera to seek blessings and get them clicked with the dera heads. A big event lined up ahead of polls is the 15th death anniversary of Sant Ramanand of Dera Ballan on May 24 wherein there are reports that Channi could get some projection.

But Professor Surinder Singh Jodhka, Professor of Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University and a prominent political observer, completely disagrees on dera impact. “Since the candidates of all parties are Ravidassias, it would be their personal profile that would matter more. I do not even see the candidates holding any sway through deras. To my mind, the deras will be a very minor issue this time as they have lost political credibility after the decline of Dera Sirsa.”