In a strategic move aimed at uniting Dalit youth, the Congress party has appointed Tanuj Puniya, the Member of Parliament from Barabanki, as the new state president of the Scheduled Castes cell.

The party plans to cultivate a renewed culture of resistance against incidents of Dalit oppression.

To facilitate this, Congress is preparing to establish vigilance teams at the village panchayat level, enabling immediate reporting of any incidents of oppression to the state headquarters. The party is actively working to forge alliances among Dalit, backward, and minority communities.

Following a modest success in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Congress is now focusing its efforts on the upcoming 2027 assembly elections. Sushil Pasi, the former state president of the Scheduled Castes Department, has been appointed as the national secretary and given the responsibility of co-in-charge for Bihar.

After successfully engaging the Pasi community, the party has devised a strategy to connect with the Harijan community. After deliberations on various candidates, senior party leaders have turned their attention to Tanuj Puniya. His appointment is seen as a way to send a positive message to his community while leveraging his youth appeal to attract Dalit youth from other castes.

Furthermore, as an MP, Puniya will be able to raise issues related to Dalit oppression in the Lok Sabha, applying pressure on officials to address these matters. His status as an MP is also expected to enhance his ability to connect with a broader youth audience. This initiative will serve as a litmus test for the Congress party in 2027.

After his appointment, Tanuj Puniya expressed his desire for any incidents of Dalit oppression in villages to be reported immediately to the state headquarters. He noted that many incidents are often suppressed locally for various reasons.

To combat this, the Scheduled Castes cell plans to set up vigilance teams in every village to monitor and report incidents of oppression. Depending on the situation, a team from the state headquarters will be dispatched to the site of the incident for an on-ground assessment. The findings will not only be submitted to the government but also made public, which is expected to enhance trust in the party and reduce instances of oppression.

Puniya also announced plans to conduct training programs to disseminate the ideas of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, ensuring that young people are aware of their rights and duties as outlined in the Constitution.

The newly appointed state president of the Scheduled Castes Department, Tanuj Puniya, brings a wealth of organizational experience. He is the son of PL Puniya, a former Rajya Sabha member who transitioned from the All India Administrative Service to politics. After earning an IIT degree, Tanuj stepped into the political arena to carry forward his father's legacy. Following a setback in the assembly elections, he successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Barabanki in 2024.