Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi named new Punjab CM by Congress

Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi will be the new Chief Minister of Punjab, AICC general secretary Harish Rawat tweeted on Sunday. 

“It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Sh. #CharanjitSinghChanni has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab,” he tweeted.

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This development comes a day after Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as the chief minister of the state following a power struggle with state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. He met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on Saturday and submitted his and his council of ministers’ resignation.   

After resigning, Amarinder Singh said he felt “humiliated” and expressed his unhappiness with the party leadership’s decision.

“I spoke with the Congress president this morning, told them that I will be resigning today… This is the third time in recent months in meeting MLAs… which is why I decided to quit,” he said.

“…Did they have an element of doubt that I couldn’t run the govt…I feel humiliated…Whoever they have faith in, can make them (CM), he added.  

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Following his resignation, several names were doing the rounds as Amarinder Singh’s replacement. Most prominent being Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the Jails and Cooperation Minister in the outgoing cabinet.

Channi is the MLA from the Chamkaur Sahib Assembly Constituency. He was previously the leader of opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2015 to 2016.

Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent his best wishes to Charanjit Singh Channi.

“My best wishes to Charanjit Singh Channi. I hope he’s able to keep the border state of Punjab safe and protect our people from the growing security threat from across the border,” he said in a statement tweeted by media advisor Raveen Thukral.