Pray to Ganga for chance to see Dalit CM in Uttarakhand too, says Rawat

Addressing a public meeting in Laksar area in Haridwar during the Uttarakhand Congress parivartan yatra, Harish Rawat, without naming Channi, said everyone was crying when the latter spoke about his family background at a press conference.

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat

Former Uttarakhand chief minister and AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat, on Monday said that he prays to the Ganga for a chance to see a Dalit Chief Minister in Uttarakhand after “history” was created in Punjab with the appointment of a Dalit (Charanjit Singh Channi) to the top position.

Addressing a public meeting in Laksar area in Haridwar during the Uttarakhand Congress parivartan yatra, Rawat, without naming Channi, said everyone was crying when the latter spoke about his family background at a press conference.

Rawat, from the Thakur community and a frontrunner for the CM post in Uttarakhand, said that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the Punjab legislature party unanimously elected a person from a poor family as the chief minister.

“I pray to God and Ganga to bless me with a moment in life when I see the son of a Dalit, poor and artisan as the chief minister in Uttarakhand. We will work for that,” he said. He said that it is not important how many from the Dalit community were with the Congress but for how many years they supported the Congress in getting power in the Centre and states. “We will repay (pratidaan) if we get an opportunity,” Rawat said, adding that the Congress will fulfill the expectations of Dalits.

Lalmani Verma

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More

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