Punjab polls: Charanjit Singh Channi, who lost from both seats, resigns as CM

Punjab assembly election 2022: Channi lost to his namesake, AAP's Charanjit Singh, from his traditional seat of Chamkaur Sahib, while another AAP candidate, Labh Singh Ugoke, defeated him from Bhadaur.

Charanjit Singh Channi, the outgoing chief minister of Punjab, tendered his resignation on Friday, a day after the Congress was voted out of power with Channi losing both the seats he contested the February 20 assembly elections from.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. (PTI/File Photo)

“I have given my resignation to the Governor. He told me and the Cabinet to continue until the new government is sworn-in. I accept the people's mandate,” Channi said, according to news agency ANI.

He added that he will always be there to serve the people of Punjab. “We will continue doing our duty and be among them. I request the new government to continue the public welfare projects and schemes that we brought in, in the last 111 days,” Channi, who succeeded Captain Amarinder Singh in September 2020, further said.

 

The now-interim chief minister, the first person from the state's Dalit community to hold the top post, contested the elections from his traditional Chamkaur Sahib seat, along with Bhadaur, losing to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in both places. From Chamkaur Sahib, he was defeated by his namesake, Charanjit Singh, while Labh Singh Ugoke defeated him from Bhadaur.

 

However, the Congress leader was not the only heavyweight candidate who was defeated in these elections. The losers also included his predecessor, Amarinder Singh, former CM Parkash Singh Badal, former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, as well as Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Thursday's results saw the Congress reduced to just 18 seats in the 117-seat assembly, down from the 77 it won in the 2017 polls. The AAP, which was the principal opposition party with 20 seats, will form the next government, as it stormed to power with 92 seats.

 

Meanwhile, Punjab CM-elect Bhagwant Mann, who is in Delhi to meet AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, is likely to announce the date of his swearing-in after the meeting. Mann will be the AAP's second chief minister in the country, the first being Kejriwal, the Delhi CM.

 

 

The now-interim chief minister, the first person from the Dalit community to hold the top post, contested the elections from his traditional Chamkaur Sahib seat, along with Bhadaur, losing to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in both places. From Chamkaur Sahib, he was defeated by his namesake, Charanjit Singh, while Labh Singh Ugoke defeated him from Bhadaur.

 

However, the Congress leader was not the only heavyweight candidate to be defeated. 

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