NEW DELHI: The Congress party has indicated in a tweet that Charanjit Singh Channi will be the first Dalit Sikh to be projected as the party’s chief minister nominee.
Not many are aware that Dalits constitute 30% of the state’s population and tend to vote en masse.
Channi (58) has endeared himself to his Dalit constituency by getting the Punjab Assembly elections deferred, which will enable them to travel to Varanasi to join the Guru Ravidas Jayanti celebrations. All other political parties took a cue and followed suit after Channi wrote the letter to the Election Commission. Besides, the CM has loosened the purse strings and enhanced the grants to various "deras" (sects) in the state, which have a large following among Dalits.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu (58) had been lobbying for chief ministership, but political observers say he does not have the kind of political base Channi has; in fact, his influence barely extends outside Amritsar district.
