NE NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, SEP 19
Aiming to checkmate BJP and AAP from playing Dalit card in the ensuing Assembly polls, Charanjit Singh Channi was chosen as the new Punjab Chief Minister by the Congress on Sunday, after 24 hours of hectic parley following the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh. This makes Channi, a Ravidassia Sikh, the first Dalit to hold the post. He is MLA from Chamkaur Sahib constituency and remained a minister in Amarinder’s cabinet.
The anointment of a new CM in Punjab is a direct result of Navjot Singh Sidhu prevailing over Amarinder. In that context, Sidhu has apparently backed Channi, who is being considered a baton holder before the party projects Sidhu as its face for the 2022 campaign.
Channi’s name came after several other names, caste considerations and religious equations were discussed within the party. The most prominent name being thrown around on Saturday was that of Sunil Kumar Jakhar, who was the state Congress unit chief before Sidhu succeeded him two months ago. Sidhu is said to be the effective top leader of the party in Punjab after Amarinder fell out of favour because of reported anti-incumbency ahead of assembly polls due early next year.
Sunil Jakhar is a Hindu Jat leader, so the party was reported to be eyeing the Hindu population that forms 38 percent of Punjab. Later, former union minister Ambika Soni was also being considered but she reportedly declined the offer and said a Sikh should be CM. Sikhs are more than 62 percent of Punjab’s population. Punjab has, in fact, never had a Hindu CM after the reorganisation of states in 1966.
Soni was being seen as a surprise consideration by political observers as well because, while a Punjabi ethnically, she is seen as an outsider in state politics. She had lost from the Anantpur Sahib seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The name being considered just before Channi’s was that of Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. A minister in the Punjab government, Randhawa is seen as a strongman from the Majha region of Punjab, the other two regions being Malwa and Doaba. Randhawa was once considered a loyalist of Amarinder Singh, but switched over to Sidhu’s side when the Sidhu-Amarinder power tussle ensued.
He is a Jat Sikh, and his appointment could have been seen as business-as-usual as far as caste equations re concerned in Punjab. Randhawa was reportedly opposed by Sidhu as well because his Jat Sikh prominence and political experience could have meant that he would not quietly step aside if the party projected Sidhu as the CM’s face for the next election. Channi, in that sense, is relatively low-profile and emerged as a suitable compromise candidate, particularly because of his being Dalit and the symbolism attached therewith.
Ultimately, the fact that Dalits constitute almost one-third of Punjab’s population across religions appears to have sealed it in favour of Channi, who also remained leader of opposition in the assembly in the previous term.
The BJP, being seen as weak in Punjab, following its breakup with the Akali Dal over the farm laws had already declared that it will focus on the Dalit vote in Punjab. At one point, one of its leaders had even said that a Dalit will be made CM if the party comes to power. The Akali Dal and the AAP have both announced that they would give a deputy CM’s post, at least, to a Dalit if elected. Tha Akalis have even tied up with the BSP to bolster its pro-Dalit credentials.
