The conventional Jat politics in Punjab may take a back seat in the 2022 assembly election. Opposition parties are going all out to woo the electorally influential but largely ignored Dalit community as protesting farmers keep netas at bay. Dalits form nearly 32 per cent of the electorate. They are the second most influential voter segment after the upper caste general category (Jats 21 per cent and 12 per cent Brahmins and Banias) and OBC (31.9 per cent). AN IGNORED COMMUNITY Despite a sizeable percentage in the population, Dalits have largely been ignored in political representation. The Congress won 22 out of 34 reserved seats in 2017 (AAP 9 and SAD 3). But only three got cabinet berths. Cabinet minister Charanjit Singh Channi had accused CM Captain Amarinder Singh of ignoring Dalits in his cabinet and bureaucracy. The issue was also recently raised by Dalit MLAs before the Congress leadership.