The Congress party has engaged former lok Sabha member and Satnami leader PR Khunte in its election campaign in Chhattisgarh to prevent split of Satnami community votes as the Satnami Sena has fielded its candidates.
The Satnami community has a sizeable population in the state and it traditionally goes against the state’s ruling BJP but the Congress fears that its votes could get split in the 2014 lok Sabha polls after Satnami Sena decided to put up its own candidates.The Congress has already issued its list of star campaigners in the state which contained 40 names. The name of Khunte was not in the list but his name has been announced as star campaigner after the Satnami Sena announced that it will contest the lok Sabha election.
The Satnami Sena candidates had split the Congress Dalit votes in a number of constituencies in the assembly election held last year in November which helped the BJP by default to win nine out of the state’s total 10 assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Even senior Congress leaders such as Dharamjit Singh and Mohammed Akbar had to bite the dust on their home turfs as Satnami Sena candidates managed to bag Dalit votes in large numbers.
Some Congress leaders believe that it was because of the Satnami Sena the Congress failed to return to power in a 90-member Chhattisgarh state assembly.
The Satnami Sena was formed under the initiative of Satnami Samaj priest Guru Baldas. Initially the work of the Samaj was restricted to social work but later it came into political scene when it fielded candidates in the last assembly elections.
About 10 per cent of the total electorate in the state belonged to Satnami community. The Samaj has a good hold among the youth. The people of Satnami community were traditionally supporting the Congress party. However, in the last few elections the Bahujan Samaj Party managed to woo a part of the Satnami voter base.
The Congress is afraid of trouble after the Satnami Samaj announced it will contest the lok Sabha election.The Congress expects trouble this time too as Sena has fielded its candidates. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi is considered to be a top leader of the state who has influence in Scheduled Caste community in the state.
Since Jogi himself has been contesting the election, he has been left with little option but to focus on his constituency. That is the reason why the Congress has not only deployed Khunte, but also provided him a chopper so that he can reach out to all the Scheduled Caste populated areas and campaign for party candidates.
Khunte was an aspirant for lok Sabha seat but the party denied a ticket for him. The party has now engaged him as a star campaigner. The result will only tell, if he will have been able to inspire the Scheduled Caste voters into the Congress fold or not.