Religion, caste doesn’t stand in way if someone is capable of leading a state, says Manish Tewari

Manish Tewari said If Dalit, Hindu/ OBC is capable of leading the state on merit then Why Not? Religion/ Caste not stand in way RP Singh

Amid the power tussle within the Congress Punjab unit, party leader Manish Tewari on Saturday said religion and caste do not stand in way if someone is capable of leading the state.

His remarks came in response to BJP national Spokesperson RP Singh’s statement on Twitter “why we can’t have a Majhbi Sikh from a rural background as CM of Punjab“. “Fine balance between social equity and merit essential. Tokenism does the greatest disservice to the cause of social justice. Great Nations are built by Meritocracies. If Dalit, Hindu/ OBC is capable of leading the state on merit then Why Not? Religion/ Caste does not stand in way of RP Singh,” tweeted Manish Tewari.

In response to Punjab’s demographic composition on Friday, RP Singh said, “Why can’t we have a Majhbi Sikh from a rural background as CM of Punjab. Congress, BJP, Akali Dal- let’s see who will give Punjab a CM from the Scheduled Caste community.”

A power tussle in Punjab Congress has been going on for the past several weeks after Sidhu openly led a rebellion against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over several issues.

Tewari shared the demographic composition of Punjab and said that the state is both progressive and secular.
“Demographics of Punjab’- Sikhs: 57.75 percent, Hindus: 38.49 percent, Dalits: 31:94 percent (Sikh & Hindus). Punjab is both progressive and secular…But balancing social interest groups is key to equality,” he tweeted on Friday.