Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday said he is "upset" as the party has not chosen him to be the party's chief ministerial candidate "because he is a Hindu".
"Advisors sitting in Delhi said that a Sikh face would be suitable for the CM post," Jakhar told India Today. "Advisors in Delhi are not giving correct advise. It is okay to tell me that I was not made CM [candidate] if I was not MLA and not because I am a Punjabi Hindu. You upset a whole community because of that," he added.
The former Punjab Pradesh Congress chief also claimed that 42 of 79 party MLAs wanted him to take over as the Punjab Chief Minister after Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down from the post while only two legislators favoured Charanjit Singh Channi, reported news agency ANI.
Addressing a public meeting in his Abohar, Jakhar said, "There were 42 MLAs in my favour, only two MLAs took Channi's name as Chief Minister." He also claimed that he declined the post of Deputy Chief Minister offered to him by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Jakhar said that 16 MLAs were in support of Sukhjinder Randhawa, 12 MLAs wanted Captain's wife Preneet Kaur for the Deputy chief minister post while only 6 MLAs were in favour of Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Meanwhile, Congress is likely to announce its chief ministerial candidate for Punjab polls today.
Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
