Charanjit Singh Channi will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on Monday. Channi was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader on Sunday, a day after Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as the chief minister following a months-long bitter power tussle with Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.  “We have presented our stance, unanimously supported by party MLAs, before the Governor. The oath-taking ceremony will take place at 11 am on Monday,” Channi said after leaving the Governor’s House, Chandigarh, in the evening. Channi’s family had also reached the Punjab Raj Bhavan even as his supporters held celebrations outside his residence at Kharar, SAS Nagar, after he was announced as the Punjab CM-designate. 

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Earlier, AICC general secretary Harish Rawat said in a tweet that Channi had been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab. The state goes to Assembly polls in less than five months.

A minister in the outgoing Amarinder Singh cabinet, Channi’s selection assumes significance as the dissension-riven Congress faces the Assembly polls in less than five months.

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Channi barely figured in the widely-speculated list of frontrunners to replace Captain Amarinder such as Navjot Singh Sindhu, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.

Soon after the announcement, Amarinder Singh said he hopes that Channi is able to keep the border state of Punjab safe.

“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.

Randhawa also welcomed the party high command’s decision and said Channi was like his younger brother.

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Another Congress leader, Brahm Mohindra, too welcomed the Congress’s decision to pick Channi, who is considered close to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The three-time MLA from Chamkaur Sahib Assembly Constituency’s tenure as technical education minister was marked by several controversies, including allegations of sending “inappropriate” text messages to a woman IAS officer.