Sunil Jakhar, the frontrunner as Punjab CM replacement

With Captain Amarinder Singh resigning as the chief minister of Punjab, Congress leader Sunil Jakhar’s name is making the rounds as the frontrunner for the top post.

Amarinder Singh met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on Saturday evening and submitted his and his council of ministers’ resignation. Talking to the press after resigning, Amarinder Singh expressed his unhappiness with the party leadership’s decision.

“I feel humiliated by the way talks transpired,” he said, adding that he had been summoned by the central leadership thrice in the last two months.

“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.

Also Read: Congress leader lauds Rahul Gandhi’s ‘bold leadership’ to solve Punjab impasse

According to reports, Congress wants to project a non-Sikh face as the chief minister ahead of the assembly polls, which is scheduled to take place early next year, in view of the growing popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state. 

Who is Sunil Jakhar?

Sunil Jakhar was elected consecutively three times (2002-2017) from the Abohar constituency in the Punjab Assembly elections. The 67-year-old was also the Punjab Congress Committee chief. 

In 2017, a by-poll was held for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat post the demise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and sitting Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna. Though Jakhar won the by-polls by a huge margin, he lost the seat to actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol of the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections following which he resigned as the Punjab Congress chief.

Sunil Jakhar’s father Balram Jakhar was Lok Sabha speaker for two successive terms from 1980 to 1989. Balram Jakhar, was died in 2016, was once the Jat face of the Congress. 

Also read: Rakhi Sawant hits back at AAP’s Raghav Chadha over ‘misogynist’ remark

Hours before Amrinder Singh’s resignation, Sunil Jakhar had all but announced that Singh was on his way out.

“Kudos to Rahul Gandhi for adopting Alexandrian solution to this Punjabi version of Gordian knot. Surprisingly, this bold leadership decision to resolve Punjab Congress imbroglio has not only enthralled Congress workers but has sent shudders down the spines of Akalis,” Jakhar tweeted.