The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced a list of 19 candidates for the Assembly elections in Punjab next year.
The party is all set to turn its political attention to dalits in Punjab as it prepares to hold a dalit dialogue across Punjab beginning later this week, reports the Hindustan Times.
Following is the list of candidates announced by AAP:
The move is a result of the party’s decision to write up a dalit manifesto for the poll-bound state. It comes at a time when across the country, conversations about atrocities against dalits are finally being held, and is fast becoming an election issue for most parties.
Along with Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur Assemblies will go to poll in 2017.
According to party sources, the dalit dialogues will be in the manifesto and is expected to be out towards the end of September.
The 2011 Census found that Scheduled Castes make for 32 percent of Punjab’s population, making them the single biggest vote bank in terms of caste groups.
(With inputs from ANI and the Hindustan Times)
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