Punjab polls: AAP takes dig at Cong over ticket denial to Channi’s brother

Chadha said the Congress, in its first list of candidates, has fielded the family members and relatives of several big leaders in the state but denied the ticket to the chief minister’s brother. This proves that the Congress applied “use and throw” at Channi for the votes of the SC community in Punjab polls, he alleged

Chandigarh : Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha accused the Congress of using chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi to woo the SC community.

AAP leader Raghav Chadha.

Chadha said the Congress, in its first list of candidates, has fielded the family members and relatives of several big leaders in the state but denied the ticket to the chief minister’s brother. This proves that the Congress applied “use and throw” at Channi for the votes of the SC community, he alleged at a press conference here.

Referring to the families of Congress leaders who got tickets, Chadha said that the party has fielded (Fatehgarh Sahib MP) Amar Singh’s son from Raikot, (former minister) Avtar Henry’s son from Jalandhar, (cabinet minister) Brahm Mohindra’s son from Patiala Rural and (former state chief) Sunil Jakhar’s nephew from Abohar, but despite publicly expressing his desire to contest, the CM’s brother did not get the ticket. “This shows that Channi has no say at all in the party. The Congress used him as the chief minister for a few days only to get the votes of the SC community,” he said.

Chadha said the Congress has a history of changing the CM after taking votes in the name of OBC-SC leaders. “They pulled something similar in Maharashtra as well. There, the Congress had used Sushil Kumar Shinde like Channi a few days before the election. After the polls, they replaced him. Like Maharashtra, the Congress is now using Channi as a ‘night watchman’ in Punjab,” he said.