In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Chaudhary Santokh Singh of Congress took the Jalandhar parliamentary seat, defeating his SAD rival. But it was the AAP which came third, pushing the BSP to Number 4. The Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha reserved seat went to BJP state president Vijay Sampla who defeated his Congress rival. Again, AAP was Number 3 and the BSP fourth.
This election, every party has gone all out to woo Dalit votes. The AAP brought out a Dalit manifesto, promising a Dalit Deputy Chief Minister if the party is voted to power. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi promised to clear the backlog of 50,000 government jobs, mostly with Dalit youth. He also promised an Ambedkar university in Jalandhar. He and his party leaders visited Dera Sach Khand Ballan which has a large Ravidassia following in the Doaba.
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(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
