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Punjab polls: Jakhar says he was first choice for CM after Amarinder’s exit
Sunil Jakhar claimed that 42 MLAs wanted him to be the Punjab chief minister after the unceremonious exit of Capt Amarinder Singh about four months ago
Chandigarh: Amid a race between incumbent chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu to become the CM face of the Congress for the state elections, former state chief Sunil Jakhar has claimed that 42 MLAs wanted him to be the chief minister after the unceremonious exit of Capt Amarinder Singh about four months ago.
Jakhar, who heads the campaign committee for the February 20, made the remark at a campaign rally – a video of which has gone viral on social media, in Abohar on Tuesday in support of his nephew Sandeep Jakhar. “Forty-two votes were for Sunil (Jakhar), 16 for Sukhjinder Randhawa, 12 votes for Preneet kaur (Capt Amarinder’s MP wife), six votes for Navjot Singh Sidhu and only two votes for Channi,” he told the gathering.
The reference was to the selection process for Capt Amarinder’s successor during which calls were made to MLAs to seek their views. The party leadership had finally settled for Channi, whereas Jakhar, who was among the frontrunners, was offered the deputy CM’s post. At the gathering, Jakhar further said that he declined the post of deputy CM offered by (former Congress president) Rahul Gandhi. “They (42 MLAs) voted for me even though I did not have any position at that time. I was not even PPCC president,” he added.
The former state chief’s remarks have come at a time when the Congress is doing a tele survey, asking the party workers and electors to make a choice between Channi and Sidhu for its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls. Though the Congress had decided to go into the polls under the “collective leadership” of Channi, Sidhu and Jakhar, the first two pressed for naming the CM face, making their own for the position. Rahul, at a virtual rally last week, announced that the party would go with a CM candidate and seek the opinion of its workers before making the announcement.
Oppn hits out at Cong
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said Jakhar’s statement has exposed the “fraud” committed by the Congress high command in the name of inner-party democracy.
On the distribution of votes disclosed by Jakhar, the Akali Dal leader said it was up to the Congress to set the record straight.
“The Congress also owes an explanation to the party rank and file as to why it did not proceed on the principle of inner-party democracy. This also shows that the inner-party democracy which the Congress proclaims is a sham and that it is still run in a dictatorial manner by the Gandhi family,” he said in a statement.
AAP’s state unit chief and chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann said the Congress follows what its high command dictates.
Reacting to Jakhar’s statement, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab affairs in-charge Jarnail Singh said his remarks proved that Congress high command Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, sitting in Delhi, are pulling the strings of party leaders in Punjab. “Gandhi family, against the recommendation of their MLAs, appointed Charanjit Singh Channi as the Chief Minister of Punjab so that they can remote control the government in Punjab,” he said.
