For Punjab Assembly election, BJP turns to Dalit-dera strategy
Having already made inroads into the urban Sikh electorate of Punjab, the BJP seems to have begun an exercise to woo the Dalit votebank ahead of the next Assembly elections in the state. In a carefully choreographed move, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, along with Dalit leaders including former Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Chander, facilitated a meeting between Dera Sachkhand Ballan chief Sant Niranjan Dass and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi last week. The timing was deliberate: Ahead of the 649th Guru Ravidas Jayanti. Dera Ballan holds deep religious and emotional significance for the Ravidassia community in Punjab. Recognising the power of digital outreach, BJP leaders promptly released photographs of the meeting across social media platforms, sending a clear political signal to 32 per cent Dalit voters across the state. “We had gone to invite the PM for the start of the year-long celebrations to mark the 650th jayanti of the Guru from his birthplace Banaras (Varanasi) in the coming February. Since the PM is Varanasi MP, the dera chief wanted to seek his approval for the allotment of additional 15-20 acres for setting up a satsang bhawan. The talks went on very smoothly,” said Avinash Chander. The BJP has reportedly identified nearly 250 small and large deras across Punjab that hold varying degrees of influence over local constituencies — a sign of a more structured, long-term approach. “Our party has not been able to garner support from the Jatt community in the state, who are majorly landowners and have agriculture as their major source of income. The party is looking to be cordial with all other communities, including Ravidassias, Valmikis and OBCs, in line with its strategy in Haryana,” said a senior BJP leader from the state. The BJP move has clearly unsettled the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In 2023, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan and handed over a cheque of Rs 25 crore for establishing a Sri Guru Ravidas Research Centre. However, land for the project is yet to be allotted. Last month, Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman Jasvir Garhi summoned the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner to seek clarity on the status of the project. The administration is now reportedly looking for suitable land in the vicinity. Interestingly, the research centre was originally announced by former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab’s first Dalit CM and now Congress MP from Jalandhar. Channi had announced and sanctioned the same amount ahead of the 2022 Assembly poll. He is known for his close association with the dera, including frequent visits, partaking in langar, and even sleeping on the floor of the premises during his tenure. Like the BJP, SAD and the Congress, AAP has also been trying to appease various deras. AAP gave MP’s seat to Balbir Singh Seechewal, running a dera in Sultanpur Lodhi. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with functionaries of Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Nurmahal, in Delhi this week. Last month, the state government had got handed over the custody of Akal Bunga gurdwara in Sultanpur Lodhi to a Nihang faction led by Baba Balbir Singh. Both AAP and BJP had last month organised parallel events to mark the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur. Article_Author Deepkamal Kaur Courtesy: The Tribune Note: This news is originally published on https:/thetribune.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Adivasis, Dalits will lose Aadhaar, ration cards next
Hyderabad: ChiefMinister A Revanth Reddy, while slamming the Narendra Modi regime for removing the names of certain sections from the voters’ lists in the guise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and indulging in ‘vote chori’, has warned that Adivasis, Dalits and minorities will lose their Aadhaar cards, ration cards, lands and their properties in the next stage. He was addressing a mammoth ‘Vote Chor – Gaddi Chhod’ rally in New Delhi on Sunday. The Chief Minister said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, its second chief Golwalkar, and their associates had obstructed granting voting rights to Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, and the poor. It was Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar who fought for granting voting rights to the poor and thereby provided them an opportunity to form governments in the country. The Chief Minister recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had strategised to win 400 MP seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with the aim of implementing the RSS’ ideology. As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had cautioned people that the BJP will change the Constitution and abolish reservations should it win 400 MP seats and exposed the saffron party’s conspiracies, people gave a mandate limiting BJP to 240 seats and therefore the Constitution was protected. “Now, to implement the RSS ideology by deceit, the BJP government has resorted to the removal of voting rights of particular communities,” the Chief Minister charged. Like Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar, presently Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge were fighting against Modi and Amit Shah to safeguard the rights of the deprived communities, Revanth Reddy said. “Today, we are standing in Ramlila Maidan against the ideology of RSS and Golwalkar. It is not a Congress problem, but a grave national problem”, he observed. Appealing to people to support Rahul Gandhi in the fight against the Centre on ‘vote chori’, the Chief Minister said that tribals will lose everything if their voting rights are taken away. The Chief Minister asserted that Rahul Gandhi was continuing the fight “like a soldier” against the Modi government; and hence, everyone should rally behind the Congress for a great cause. By K Venkateshwarlu Courtesy : THI Note: This news is originally published on https:/thehansindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Telugu Dalit IPS officer’s suicide: Haryana govt relieves DGP
Kumar (52), a 2001-batch IPS officer, allegedly shot himself dead on October 7. Chandigarh: Two months after being sent on leave amid a controversy over IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s alleged suicide, the Haryana government has relieved IPS Shatrujeet Kapur from the charge of Director General of Police. O P Singh, who was given the additional charge as state police chief during Kapur’s absence, has been appointed as officiating DGP till further orders. The Haryana government is likely to send a panel of senior IPS officers’ names to the Union Public Service Commission to appoint a new state police chief, as Singh, a 1992-batch IPS officer, is due to retire on December 31. Kapur, a 1990-batch IPS officer, will continue to hold the charge of chairman of Haryana Police Housing Corporation, Panchkula, according to an official order. An engineering graduate, Kapur was appointed the state police chief in August 2023. On October 14, Kapur went on leave amid mounting criticism from opposition parties over IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s alleged suicide. Singh was then given the additional charge of DGP. Kumar (52), a 2001-batch IPS officer, allegedly shot himself dead on October 7. In an eight-page ‘final note’ purportedly left behind, Kumar accused multiple senior officers, including Shatrujeet Kapur, of “blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities”. Amid pressure from the political parties, the Haryana government first shunted out Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya and later sent Shatrujeet Kapur on leave. Kumar’s wife, IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, gave consent for post-mortem a week after the alleged suicide after receiving assurance from Chandigarh Police that a fair probe would be conducted and a commitment from the Haryana government that action would be taken against any “erring” officials. Posted by Mohammed Baleegh Courtesy : TSD Note: This news is originally published on https:/thesiasatdaily.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit Teenager Lured Away by Young Man: In Bareilly, the accused fled after the father filed a complaint with the police; investigation begins
In Nawabganj, Bareilly, a young man has been accused of luring a Dalit teenager into a love affair and committing sexual assault. After the girl’s father filed a complaint, the police began an investigation, and the accused abandoned the girl near her home and fled. The incident took place in the Nawabganj police station area. The girl lived with her family. A young man from Jahanabad, Pilibhit, ran a tire repair shop in one of the shops located at her house. During this time, the young man came into contact with the girl and lured her into a relationship. When the family learned about this, they had the young man vacate the shop. However, the accused continued to meet the girl secretly. It is alleged that three days ago, the accused took the girl with him and sexually assaulted her. When the girl went missing, her father filed a complaint at the police station, demanding strict action against the accused. In this regard, Station House Officer Arun Kumar Srivastava said that the complaint has been received and appropriate action will be taken after the investigation. Vivek M Courtesy: Hindi News
UP: Dalit Woman Beaten, Molested Before Paralysed Husband in Pilibhit
A 28-year-old Dalit woman from a village in Pilibhit district has alleged that she was abused with casteist slurs, beaten and molested inside her home in front of her paralysed husband. Police said the incident took place around 8 pm on Friday, and an FIR was registered on Saturday morning. According to the complaint, the woman had approached the Bareilly divisional commissioner on October 8, accusing a farmer from her village of obtaining an income certificate through irregular means. She alleged that despite owning more than five acres of agricultural land, a fishery farm and two tractors, the accused had secured an income certificate showing his annual income as only Rs 45,000. Police said that after an inquiry was ordered into her complaint, the accused and his two adult sons allegedly entered her house in retaliation. The woman stated that the main accused pushed her to the ground, assaulted her and used criminal force with the intention of outraging her modesty. She also alleged that the men hurled caste based abuses and threatened her with serious consequences. The woman further told the police that the dispute was also linked to the selection of an ASHA worker in the village. She and the accused’s daughter had both applied for the post last year. However, her application was rejected and the accused’s daughter was selected in April this year. She said she had been keen to get the job to support her family, especially as her husband is paralysed. Station House Officer Vipin Shukla said the three accused have been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC ST Act. “The accused have been charged with house trespass, intentional insult, causing hurt, criminal force against a woman, criminal intimidation and relevant provisions of the SC ST Act,” he said, adding that the investigation is currently underway. Courtesy : TOP Note: This news is originally published on https:/theobserverpost.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit ‘Anyay’ Row: BJP Accuses Congress Of Looting SC/ST Welfare Funds In Karnataka
(MENAFN- IANS) Bengaluru, Dec 13 (IANS) Stepping up its attack on the Congress-led government in Karnataka over the utilisation of funds earmarked for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) welfare, the BJP on Saturday alleged that the“Dalit anyay” (injustice) associated with Rahul Gandhi’s politics has been exposed in the State. Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka claimed that nearly 31 per cent of funds meant exclusively for the upliftment of SCs and STs had been diverted since 2023 to finance the Congress government’s“so-called guarantee schemes”. “This is not welfare; this is daylight robbery of SC/ST rights. Money meant for Dalit hostels, education of SC/ST students, entrepreneurship and livelihoods, and housing has been siphoned off to prop up populist politics,” Ashoka charged. Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi’s slogans, Ashoka said,“And then comes the drama — ‘Jitni Abadi, Utna Haq’ and ‘Samvidhan khatre mein hai’.” “This is Dalit anyay. This is ‘Adivasi vishwasghaat’. This is vote-bank politics at the cost of social justice,” he alleged. Ashoka further said that while Rahul Gandhi“lectures the country with the Constitution in hand”, governments led by his party were“picking the pockets of the very communities the Constitution seeks to protect”. “Dalits do not need slogans. They need their rightful funds. They need accountability. They need justice — not deception,” he said. The BJP leader urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to“stop looting SCSP/TSP (Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan) funds and stop exploiting Dalits for political gains”. “Misuse of Dalit funds is the Siddaramaiah government’s so-called achievement,” Ashoka alleged. He further accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of betraying Dalit leaders and pursuing“anti-Dalit policies”, claiming that funds amounting to Rs 25,000 crore under the SCP/TSP meant for Dalit welfare had been diverted in the name of guarantee schemes. “Is this your idea of social justice, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah? Is this your commitment to Dalits?” Ashoka asked. Ashoka also alleged that under the guise of guarantee schemes, the Congress-led Karnataka government had“looted the State’s treasury, stalled development, and betrayed the poor, farmers, women and youth”. Courtesy : MENAFN Note: This news is originally published on https:/menafn.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Depressed Class United Front: A Lost Chapter in Kerala’s Dalit Politics in Annihilate Caste
When Thiru P.J. Sabharaj convened his first public meetings in the late 1950s, he articulated a vision that was rare in Kerala’s political landscape. Caste, he insisted, could not be defeated through identity claims alone. Any meaningful anti-caste politics had to confront land ownership, labour relations, and control over the state. Advancing this vision of a casteless society, Sabharaj and his followers formed the Depressed Class United Front in 1958, later renamed the Dravida Class United Front (DCUF). DCUF was not a Dalit organisation seeking symbolic recognition or moral redress. It was an explicitly materialist anti-caste project that read caste as a system structured through unequal control over land, labour, and state power, and organised around the redistribution of these resources. In doing so, it posed a fundamental challenge to both mainstream anti-caste politics and the dominant Left in Kerala. The movement emerged from deep disillusionment. Many Dalit activists in mid-twentieth-century Kerala had joined communist organisations, drawn by their language of class emancipation and egalitarian promise. Yet in practice, the Left refrained from confronting caste relations directly, treating caste as a feudal residue that would dissolve automatically through class struggle. Sabharaj’s mobilisation meetings, held largely in Dalit-inhabited regions of Kottayam, Idukki, and Pathanamthitta, directly challenged this assumption. DCUF activists openly accused communists of preserving feudal caste relations beneath socialist rhetoric. Their slogan captured this critique with biting clarity: “Socialism on their lips. Feudalism in their hearts. Worshippers of feudalism, Enemies of the New Era- Your days are ending.” Land reform in Kerala, DCUF argued, revealed this contradiction. Despite progressive claims, it largely benefited rent-paying tenants and newly emerging landed castes, while leaving landless agricultural labourers, overwhelmingly Dalit, outside its scope. By using monetary criteria such as the ability to pay tenancy as the measure of deservingness, the state reproduced caste inequality. DCUF viewed this as a betrayal: a reform that promised redistribution but left the material foundations of caste intact. Breaking with Left parties that combined class rhetoric with paternalistic practice, DCUF nonetheless adopted Marxist tools — trade unions, study circles, collective discussions, while placing caste’s materiality at the centre of its politics. For DCUF, caste was not a cultural remnant awaiting historical extinction; it was an active system of dispossession that structured everyday life. Sabharaj framed the movement’s ambitions as nothing less than a reorganisation of material relations. Caste, he argued, was rooted in unequal productive and reproductive relations, and any serious anti-caste struggle had to begin by transforming these conditions. DCUF leaders repeatedly stressed that such a project required cultivating class consciousness among the depressed classes themselves, recognising that caste’s internal divisions obstructed genuine solidarity. This intervention complicates Kerala’s celebrated reformist narrative. Temple entry, legislative representation, and communist-led land reforms remain vital chapters in the state’s history. Yet DCUF’s archive insists that these achievements did not automatically dismantle caste. Caste endured because it continued to determine who owned land, who controlled labour, and whose material access the state protected. DCUF’s response was to unite the resourceless as a class — the “depressed class” — and confront caste at its foundation through land redistribution, labour mobilisation, and political reorganisation. Central to this vision was Sabharaj’s udama sidhantham, or theory of ownership, which became the intellectual core of the Dravida Varga Aikya Munnani. Addressing the depressed classes directly, Sabharaj declared: “The universal owner class, organise. You ought not to receive wages, but sovereignty and rule.” The claim was radical: to reconstitute Dalits not merely as victims of caste oppression, but as the rightful owners of land and resources dispossessed through centuries of Brahmanical and colonial extraction.Within this framework, the identity of the Adi-Dravida was reinterpreted as a material claim rather than a symbolic one. The “native” was not a mythic ancestor but a community which was stripped of land and livelihood through successive regimes of domination. DCUF linked this reinterpretation to concrete demands: land to the tiller, title deeds for puthuval occupiers, community control over commons, and, most strikingly, ten acres of land for every depressed-class family. They also pioneered practices in this direction. Under DCUF’s leadership, labour unions emerged across Idukki’s plantation belts, where Dalit workers faced extreme exploitation. The organisation formed the Bharata Samrakshana Dravida Sena, a militant wing intended to protect workers from workplace violence. Alongside unionisation, DCUF mobilised communities to reclaim their labour collectively, occupying uncultivated land, transforming wastelands into productive spaces, and asserting collective control over livelihood. DCUF also challenged the state’s arbitrary evictions and enclosures, arguing that government interventions routinely expropriated the labour Dalit communities had invested in making forest and wasteland cultivable. Its demands therefore extended to land ceilings, seizure of unlawfully held wealth, and protection against predatory transfers and forced displacement. Why DCUF Matters Today DCUF’s relevance extends far beyond its regional context. It offers a corrective to symbolic readings of caste by insisting that ownership, access to resources, and control over labour are constitutive of caste itself. Anti-caste politics, from this perspective, cannot be limited to identity claims, moral appeals, or quotas; it must confront land relations, labour regimes, and the state’s role in redistribution. Moreover, DCUF advanced a non-assimilationist alliance politics grounded in the agency of the depressed classes. It emphasised collectivisation, alternative livelihoods, and solidarities with other resourceless communities, particularly Adivasis. Through electoral participation, it sought not merely representation but a transformation of who controls the instruments of redistribution.Taken together, DCUF offers a crucial lesson for contemporary struggles: caste inequality cannot be dismantled without confronting material expropriation. Far from an antiquarian curiosity, DCUF remains a practical, though contested, guide for centring land, labour, and state power in the fight against caste injustice. By Sephora Jose Sephora Jose is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Kanpur, where she also earned her doctoral degree. Her research critically examines caste and anti-caste resistance, with particular emphasis on their material foundations. Focusing on Kerala, her work traces caste relations from the colonial period to the present. She was awarded the Bluestone Rising Scholar Prize
Modi Govt Weakening Constitution, Policies Have Reversed Past Gains In Social Justice: Kharge
Kharge also accused the Modi dispensation of promoting “Manuvadi” mentality. New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the Modi government of weakening the Constitution whose foundation is social justice and said its policies have reversed previous Congress governments’ initiatives on education and jobs for Dalits. Addressing the Congress party’s first meeting of its Scheduled Castes (SC) Advisory Committee, he said the BJP government has weakened reservations, does not promote equality, instead justifies discrimination. “We will not allow Baba Saheb (Ambedkar)’s Constitution to be weakened at any cost,” Kharge said. He said the Congress, even before Independence, pledged to mitigate the discrimination prevalent in society and recognised that the state’s role in eradicating it. It was with this thinking that two major laws were enacted: the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, which made untouchability and all its forms punishable offences, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Kharge said. The government of Rajiv Gandhi enacted the SC/ST Act which stated for the first time that atrocities against Dalits are not just crimes, but an assault on social justice, the Congress chief said. Later, Congress governments strengthened it further by imposing restrictions on anticipatory bail for the accused, expediting investigations for victims, higher compensation, and arrangements for Special Courts, he said. Noting that education is the greatest weapon for Dalit empowerment, Kharge said the Congress recognised that education is the path to social equality. “Therefore, we initiated Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Pre-Matric Scholarship, Hostels for SC boys and girls, Top Class Education Scheme, SC reservations in IITs, IIMs and medical colleges, programmes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, and RTE (Right To Education), which rapidly increased the school attendance of Dalit children. “Today, there are lakhs of SC doctors, engineers, teachers, officers, and entrepreneurs in the country — their journeys began with these very policies,” he said. Claiming attacks on those who raise the voice of Dalits, the Congress chief said whether it is the Rohith Vemula issue, the actions following Bhima-Koregaon, or the discrimination faced by Dalit students in universities, the government has tried to suppress the Dalit voice everywhere. “The rights given by the Constitution are being snatched away. Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar had said: ‘The measure of a society’s progress is how secure its weakest member is. “Today, the situation has been reversed. Policies that weaken reservations, reduce jobs for Dalits through privatisation, decline in SC/ST faculty recruitment in universities — these prove that the Modi government is weakening that Constitution whose foundation is social justice,” he said. Kharge also accused the Modi dispensation of promoting “Manuvadi” mentality. “This is the same government that sometimes promotes such thinking in its documents, speeches, and policies. This is the government which does not promote equality, but justifies discrimination. We will not allow this to happen,” the Congress leader added. Courtesy : ETV Bharat Note: This news is originally published on https:/etvbharat.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit woman thrashed & molested by farmer, his sons over flagging ‘irregularities’ in income cert
Pilibhit: A 28-year-old Dalit woman from a village in Pilibhit district was allegedly abused with casteist slurs, brutally beaten and molested in front of her paralysed husband by a farmer of the same village and his two adult sons, police said. The incident took place around 8 pm on Friday, following which an FIR was registered on Saturday morning. In her complaint, the woman stated that she had approached the Bareilly divisional commissioner on Oct 8 this year, alleging irregularities in the income certificate obtained by the main accused. She claimed that despite owning over five acres of agricultural land, a fishery farm and two tractors, the accused had procured an income certificate showing his annual income as only Rs 45,000. Police said that after an inquiry was ordered into the complaint, the accused and his sons allegedly barged into the woman’s house in retaliation. The woman said that the main accused knocked her to the ground, assaulted her and subjected her to criminal force with intent to outrage her modesty. She also alleged that she was threatened with dire consequences. The complainant further stated that the dispute had its roots in rivalry over the selection of an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker. Both the complainant and the accused’s daughter had applied for the post last year, but the complainant was dropped, and the accused’s daughter was selected in April this year. Police said the complainant had been keen on securing the job to support her family, particularly in view of her husband’s paralysed condition. SHO Vipin Shukla said the accused trio has been booked under BNS Sections 333 (house trespass after preparation for hurt), 352 (intentional insult), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 74 (criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act. Investigation is underway. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Telangana: Dalit Woman Sets Example by Becoming Unopposed Sarpanch from General Seat in Maratha-Majority Village
A unique example of social harmony in a Maratha-majority village, SHG member Gangubai elected from a general seat. Kamareddy/Hyderabad: A new dawn has broken in the backward Jukkal mandal of Kamareddy district in Telangana. 40-year-old Waghmare Gangubai of Bijjalwadi village has made history. An active member of a Self-Help Group (SHG), Gangubai has set a powerful example for society by becoming the first Dalit woman to be elected unopposed as Sarpanch from a general seat. Geographical and Social Dynamics Located 190 kilometers from the state capital and 112 kilometers from the district headquarters of Kamareddy, Bijjalwadi Gram Panchayat is situated near the Maharashtra border. Looking at the social dynamics of this village, there are a total of 931 voters, of which only 230 are Dalit voters. The remaining population mainly comprises influential Maratha, Hatkar, and Lingayat communities, along with some Muslim, Gowda, and other backward class (OBC) families. Traditionally, the politics and leadership of this village have been decided by the influential Maratha residents, but this time the tide turned. MLA’s Initiative and Social Justice Congress MLA from Jukkal, Thota Laxmikanth Rao, explained that the Maratha community dominates the village and owns most of the agricultural land. He said, “I wanted to instill a new level of confidence in the people. I planned this experiment and held several gram sabhas (village meetings). We educated and explained to both Scheduled Castes (SC) and upper castes that by giving a chance to a deserving SC person, an ideal example could be set for others.” The MLA’s idea worked. Bijjalwadi elected its first Dalit woman Sarpanch unopposed from the general category seat. Villagers say that electing a Dalit as Sarpanch from a general seat reflects their commitment to social justice and harmony. Gangubai’s Emotional Reaction Ms. Gangubai, who has no formal education and was elected Sarpanch, is still overwhelmed by her new responsibility and the honor bestowed upon her. Her interaction with the outside world had so far been limited to her role as a member of the village’s Self-Help Group (SHG). When her name was announced as the Sarpanch, tears of joy welled up in her eyes. Expressing her emotions, she said, “This is something I never expected in my life. I have been helping women with childbirth for so many years, taking them to nurses and hospitals, but I never thought that one day I would become a Sarpanch.” A Wave of Development and Change The Jukkal MLA stated that 25 candidates supported by the ruling party in this constituency have been elected unopposed as Sarpanches. He attributed this to the development and welfare programs of the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government. Mr. Laxmikant Rao said that he ensured that deserving candidates from poor and underprivileged communities got the opportunity to contest even from general seats. He said, “The response was mixed. Not everyone appreciated it immediately, but I managed to bring them together and convince them.” Incentives for Development The MLA announced that the Gram Panchayats elected unanimously would be given a grant of ₹10 lakh as announced by the government. In addition, extra funds would be provided from the MLA’s fund to ensure their comprehensive development. He also appealed to the voters to elect Congress-supported candidates with a huge majority in the elections. Rajan Chaudhary Courtesy: Hindi News