E-Paper
Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat: ‘Ignored’ by Congress, Phillaur MLA Vikramjit quits as party’s chief whip
Former CM Channi is among the top contenders for the Congress ticket from the Dalit-dominant Jalandhar Parliamentary segment. Channi has been camping in the city for the past few weeks attending various social events
Upset over being “ignored” by the Congress high command for his candidature from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency, Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary has resigned as the chief whip of the party in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
Vikramjit, who was miffed over reports of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi being considered as the Congress candidate from Jalandhar (reserved) seat, sent his resignation to leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.
“It is a not just showing a resentment, but I believe that there are better people than me who can be adjusted on the post,” said Chaudhary, adding that this was the only post in the Congress that he was holding.
Former CM Channi is among the top contenders for the Congress ticket from the Dalit-dominant Jalandhar Parliamentary segment. Channi has been camping in the city for the past few weeks attending various social events.
The rift within the Congress camp widened after Vikramjit, son of two-time MP Santokh Chaudhary, who died in January 2023 following a cardiac arrest during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, openly opposed Channi’s interference and presence in Jalandhar and even dubbed Channi as an outsider.
Vikramjit along with his mother Karamjit Kaur, who unsuccessfully contested the Jalandhar by-election last year, met Congress Parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi last week and staked claims for ticket from Jalandhar.
“I wish Channi could be an MLA and leader of Opposition Bajwa should appoint him as a chief whip,” Vikramjit said.
He added that the Chaudhary family is associated with the Congress party for 96 years.
“If the party still wants to give ticket to Channi, who forfeited his security during the 2022 assembly elections from two segments, they could go ahead,” he said.
Vikramjit also rubbished rumours of him snapping ties with the Congress.
“Channi is frontrunner for the Congress ticket from Jalandhar, once a stronghold of the party. The formal announcement will be made in the coming days,” said a Congress leader privy to the matter.
The Congress loyalist Chaudhary clan has a clout in the Dalit politics of the Doaba region and has been politically active since 1936. Santokh’s father, Master Gurbanta Singh, was one of the tallest Dalit leaders of Punjab. In the 1972 assembly elections, Gurbanta was elected unopposed and joined the Giani Zail Singh cabinet. He became a member of the Punjab legislative assembly six times. He had a close association with Dera Sachkhand Ballan, which is considered to have sway over the Dalit-dominant Jalandhar Parliamentary constituency.
Vikramjit is the family’s 16th representative in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, which also happens to be the state’s 16th assembly.
