New Delhi, April 26: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed confidence on Tuesday that the longstanding demand of the state's Haati community to be declared a Scheduled Tribe is set to be fulfilled, saying formalities regarding this have been done and the Union Cabinet may give its nod to it soon.

On a visit to the national capital, Thakur said he met Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue and the Union minister assured him of a positive outcome. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur Inaugurates Dharamshala Skyway Project Worth Rs 200 Crore.

If the community, which Thakur said numbers around 3 lakhs, is granted the ST status, then it may be a boost for the BJP ahead of the assembly polls in the state later this year.

He, though, played down any link to the approaching polls, saying the demand was first made decades back, and his party had included the issue in its manifesto way back in 2009 first.

On earlier occasions, the Registrar General of India had flagged certain issues which, the chief minister said, have now been sorted out. The RGI has now given its approval, he added. The Haati community is influential in five assemblies, he said.

A community with similar social, cultural and geographical roots had been granted the ST status in the neighbouring Uttarakhand way back in 1968, he added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)