Ticket to ex-CM Channi from Jalandhar: Miffed Phillaur Congress MLA says will clear stance soon

MLA Vikramjit SIngh Chaudhary had also resigned from the post of party’s chief whip in Punjab Vidhan Sabha last week and was lobbying intensely for a ticket from Jalandhar

A day after Congress announced former CM Charanjit Singh Channi as its candidate from Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency, miffed Congress’ Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary said he will clear his stance soon.

Vikramjit said he will speak only after discussing it with his family in the coming days. (HT file)

Vikramjit said he will speak only after discussing it with his family in the coming days.

“I will clear my stance on whether to support or campaign for Channi or not soon,” he said, adding, “I can only say good luck to Channi as after losing from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur during the 2022 assembly elections, I hope Jalandhar is kind to him.”

In the run-up to Congress announcing its list of six candidates from Punjab, the Phillaur MLA has publicly expressed resentment over Channi’s presence in the constituency, terming him an ‘outsider’.

Vikramjit had also resigned from the post of party’s chief whip in Punjab Vidhan Sabha last week and was lobbying intensely for a ticket from Jalandhar.

“It is too early to say that I am weighing my options. I am a warrior and will fight till the last. It’s going to be an interesting one month in Jalandhar politics,” he added.

The Chaudharys have a rich political legacy and are considered a key loyalist of the Congress. The family has been active in electoral politics since 1936. Not only this, in every Congress government formed in the state, at least one ‘Chaudhary’ from the family has always had the opportunity to serve as a minister, holding important portfolios.

Vikramjit’s grandfather Master Gurbanta Singh was a seven-time MLA and last won an election in 1972 when he was elected unopposed. He had close association with Dera Sachkhand Ballan, which is considered to have a sway over Dalit dominant Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

Gurbanta’s elder son, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, remained a five-time MLA, while his younger son, Santokh Singh, remained MLA thrice and became MP twice in 2014 and 2019. Both contested from Kartarpur and Phillaur constituencies, and later Jagjit’s son Surinder Chaudhary became MLA from Kartarpur in 2017. Vikramjit Singh became MLA from Phillaur in the 2022 assembly polls and became the Chaudhary family’s 16th representative in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, which also happens to be the state’s 16th assembly.

Rift wide open

Vikramjit’s father Santokh Singh Chaudhary represented Jalandhar parliamentary constituency in 2014 and 2019 before he died in January 2023 following a cardiac arrest during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. His mother Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary unsuccessfully contested by-elections in May 2023 and lost to AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku with a margin of 58,691 votes. Rinku has since then shifted to BJP which has fielded him from the same constituency.

“I had asked the party for a ticket considering my father’s sacrifice for the Congress party, but the high command has failed to recognise my family’s contributions,” he said.

On reports that he was being considered as the Congress candidate from Hoshiarpur reserved seat, Vikramjit said he has never lobbied for a ticket outside Jalandhar and his family has always worked for the betterment of people here.

AMRITSAR

Meanwhile, former CM Channi visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar along with a battery of Congress MLAs, including Adampur MLA Sukhwinder Kotli, Shahkot MLA Herdev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, MLA Jalandhar Cantt Pargat Singh and other senior leaders of the party before starting his campaign in Jalandhar.

Channi slammed Rinku and CM Bhagwant Mann. “AAP came to power creating an illusion of bringing inqilab (revolution) in Punjab. However, that inqilab was never been seen by anyone. CM (Bhagwant Mann) detained Punjab youths by invoking the National Security Act (NSA). This is an opportunity to teach a lesson to AAP and its CM,” Channi said. He also took a jibe at Rinku, who first switched from Congress to AAP and then recently to BJP.

“How can people of Punjab trust those hop from one party to another,” he said.