Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has crossed the rubicon and named Charanjit Singh Channi, a three-time Dalit legislator, as the party’s chief ministerial nominee.
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.
Rahul, who was scheduled to make the announcement through a virtual address in Ludhiana around 2 pm, arrived an hour-and-half behind schedule as there was said to be a long discussion prior to the announcement with the two other top leaders of the state – Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, who also aspires to be the CM, and former party chief and tall Hindu leader Sunil Jakhar.
Rahul said he had asked people, party workers and leaders about the CM's face and they said they wanted somone who understood the plight of the poor. Referring to Channi’s humble background and his struggle, Rahul said he (Channi) knew the problems the poor were facing and how can these be addressed. Hence the decision’’, he said to thunderous sloganeering from the audience.
Earlier, during his address, Rahul, appreciated the strengths, perseverance and hard work of Sidhu and Jakhar and their contribution to the party, adding that the Congress party had many jewels like them.
After being nominated as the CM face, Channi said that since it was a humungous task, he would need the support of all the workers, especially Jakhar’s guidance, and promised Sidhu that only his (Sidhu’s) model would be implemented in the state, if elected to power.
HUGE RISK?
Even though it is seen as a well-calculated move to field Channi as the face of the Dalit and the poor, political observers opined that it could also boomerang.
Dr Ronki Ram, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor in political science, Panjab University, agrees that Channi has the potential to swing Dalits vote in Congress’ favour. ``However, the consolidation of the scheduled caste votes may also lead to counter-consolidation of votes of the upper and dominant castes in the state’’, he added.
However, the party’s decision to name Channi did not come as a surprise to many who had sensed it already, when he was asked by the party high command to fight from another reserved seat in the Malwa belt, indicating it did not want him to lose.
Sidhu, on the other hand, is locked in a bitter battle in his Amritsar (East) seat where the firebrand senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majitha has taken him on. Moreover, Sidhu, a three-time MP, also has more foes within the party, especially Channi supporters who see in him a lurking threat to the high command's nominee.
