A Dalit will be the deputy chief minister when AAP comes to power in Punjab said Arvind Kejriwal.
The Aam Aadmi Party has announced that a Dalit leader will be the deputy chief minister of Punjab if the party comes to power in the assembly elections next year.
"A Dalit will be the deputy chief minister when AAP comes to power in Punjab," said AAP's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, in a bid to woo the Dalit community, which make up about 30 per cent of the state's population.
Mr Kejriwal, however, did not make any mention of who the chief ministerial candidate of AAP would be.
Addressing a gathering in the Dalit-dominated Doaba region of Punjab, Mr Kejriwal promised houses for all Dalits and said a low cost housing scheme for them would be implemented. Mr Kejriwal was unveiling the party's separate 19 points manifesto for Dalits.
The Delhi chief minister said that the Punjab Scheduled Caste Commission will be empowered, strengthened and expanded to ensure that grievances of Dalits are taken seriously and discrimination of any kind against Dalits is punished.
He said that a special cell will be created to monitor proper implementation of Post-matric Scholarship scheme, and there will be a time bound enquiry to identify those who have looted money meant for Dalits under the scheme and to punish the guilty.
"A special SIT will fix responsibility and recommend exemplary punishment for atrocities and false cases registered against Dalits in last five years," Mr Kejriwal said adding that backlog of job vacancies for Dalits would be cleared.
AAP is being seen as a serious contender in the state that has given four lawmakers to the party in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. As Arvind Kejriwal seeks to widen his influence outside Delhi, wooing the Dalit community has been as a major aspect of his party's poll strategy.