New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday lauded the central leader for choosing Charanjit Singh Channi, a three-time Dalit legislator, as the party’s chief ministerial nominee.
"The announcement of the Charanjit Singh Channi as the CM candidate of Punjab by Rahul Gandhi is a big step taken by the Congress party towards social justice and empowerment of Dalits. I applaud this decision and hope the people of Punjab support this historic decision", the Congress MP wrote on Twitter.
"It's great that for the first time in the country, a Congress candidate (Charanjit Singh Channi) will be from the Dalit community (for CM)", he added.
Not to forget, Jagannath Pahadia for Rajasthan and Sushilkumar Shinde were first Dalit Chief Ministers from Rajasthan and Maharashtra respectively.
Shinde, born in Solapur, he graduated in law from the University of Bombay in Maharashtra. He joined Congress in 1971 and has been elected to the Maharashtra Assembly more than six times. From 2003 to 2004, he served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Congress' former president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday announced Charanjit Singh Channi as the Chief Minister face for upcoming assembly polls in Punjab.
The move is understandably aimed at swinging 32% Dalit votes en bloc in Congress’ favour, as well as cutting into the emerging Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) vote bank in the Malwa region, as Channi is also contesting from Bhadaur (reserved) seat in the Malwa belt.
This is besides his original seat, Chamkaur Sahib (reserved), in district Rupnagar in Doaba, the region which has the biggest Dalit vote bank.
Punjab has a 32 % scheduled caste population, the highest in the country, and 34 reserved seats. The Doaba region, with 23 seats, has a Scheduled Caste (SC) population ranging from 25% to 75%. Among the other two regions, Malwa has a total of 69 assembly seats and Majha, 25, where Dalit votes, though less, would also have an impact.
The other main contender for the party's CM face was Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Jat Sikh face.
The party had taken feedback from its leaders and workers, and had also sought the opinion of the public on who should be its chief ministerial candidate through an automated call system.
