Eye on Dalit votes, Rahul picks Channi over Sidhu as Punjab CM face

Punjab Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi (48) was on Sunday officially named as the party’s chief ministerial candidate by Rahul Gandhi, laying to rest the lingering suspense over its CM face for the ensuing Punjab elections on February 20.

Gandhi preferred Channi over incumbent state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu who has been nurturing ambitions to be CM. While the Congress is hoping its decision will keep the party buoyed in the run up to the polls, the complexities surrounding the move could also possibly accentuate trouble for the Congress given that its house in Punjab is battling severe internal wrangling.

The party central leadership kept in mind the Dalit votes in Punjab to name Channi, a Dalit leader, as its CM face. Punjab has the highest percentage of Dalit population in the country at around 33% which the Congress hopes to consolidate. The party is projecting Channi’s image as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ to blunt the groundswell of the AAP in Punjab. Rahul Gandhi made it a point to say that Channi comes from a poor family and understands the pain of those living in poverty. It’s also a strong message to the electorate that Channi was not a stop-gap-arrangement post the exit of Capt Amarinder Singh.

“I have not decided about it. I asked this to Punjab's people, youth, members of the working committee...Punjabis told us that we need a person who can understand the poor. It is not a decision of Rahul Gandhi but of Punjab…People of Punjab said we want a 'gareeb ghar ka CM', I agreed to it,” Gandhi said today addressing a virtual rally in Punjab’s Ludhiana.

The generational shift within the Gandhi family and eventually the pivotal role by the Gandhi siblings was first at play when they made a crucial move to replace the party's old warhorse Capt as Punjab CM just months before the elections. In the coronation of Channi as Capt’s replacement, Rahul Gandhi made a bold decision giving Punjab its first Dalit CM in decades.

The Gandhis were faced with the challenge of encountering Sidhu’s annoyance in naming Channi given the cryptic narrative the former cricketer had built around Channi. But the party central leadership, swathed with hopes of winning Punjab a second consecutive time for Congress, did what it needed to do in projecting a Dalit over a Jat Sikh (Sidhu). Sidhu for now vows to abide by the decision of the Gandhi’s, but given his mercurial ways it remains to be seen if Sidhu will walk the talk. Juxtaposed with Sidhu, Channi's amicable ways will suit the Congress high command.

The illegal sand mining case against Channi’s nephew, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, could spell trouble both for Channi and Congress in Punjab. The disclosures made by the accused before the ED will be significant. The opposition is training guns at Channi, rubbishing his 'aam aadmi' credentials, citing the huge recovery of crores of rupees from his nephews place during the raids.

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