Inadequate representation for various castes led to Cong. defeat in  Haryana, says former Minister

Former Haryana Finance Minister Ajay Yadav on Monday said inadequate representation to different castes in Congress, unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, was one of the reasons for the former’s defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Mr. Yadav said Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders in the BJP like Rao Inderjit Singh, Bhupender Yadav and Krishan Pal Gurjar are Ministers at the Centre and Chief Minister Nayab Saini is also an OBC. Former CM Manohar Lal is a Punjabi. But in the Congress no importance was given to OBCs, Punjabis and Baniyas, he said.

‘Discrepancies in EVMs’

He partially blamed the party’s defeat on “large-scale discrepancies” in EVMs, the division of electorate along caste lines and the statements of some party leaders.

Mr. Yadav, a six-time MLA, had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress on October 17. He said he withdrew his resignation at the “behest of the high command”, adding that his family’s third generation was associated with the Congress.

In a social media post after his resignation, Mr. Yadav had accused a few party leaders of harassing him and trying to cut short his political career.

‘Stay with the party’

At the presser, Mr. Yadav said he would stay with the Congress to strengthen it and keep fighting for the rights of the Backward Classes.

Mr. Yadav said he had discussed various issues of the OBCs with the party leader Rahul Gandhi recently, adding that their major demands included hike in annual income ceiling for OBC reservation, caste census, separate ministry for the Backward Classes and reservation for OBC women.

Published - October 22, 2024 12:54 am IST