Before Punjab CM Channi, here are Dalit leaders who held top post in country

Charanjit Singh Channi is a member of the Ramdasia community, and among a handful of Dalits who have served as chief ministers

Charanjit Singh Channi became the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab on Monday a day after the ruling Congress nominated him for the post. A member of the Ramdasia community, he is among a handful of Dalits who have served as chief ministers:

(Clockwise from top left): Damodar Sanjivayya; Bhola Paswan Shastri; Ram Sundar Das; Jitan Ram Manjhi; Sushilkumar Shinde; and Mayawati (HT archive)

-- Damodaram Sanjivayya (Andhra Pradesh) was the first Dalit to become a chief minister. He held the post from January 1960 to March 1962. In 1962, Sanjivayya went on to become the first Dalit chief of the Congress.

-- Bhola Paswan Shastri, a freedom fighter, served as Bihar’s chief minister from 1968 to 1971. He was also the first Dalit to be elected as the state’s top official.

-- Ram Sundar Das, another freedom fighter, became the second Dalit chief minister of Bihar in 1979.

-- Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, a Dalit, has served as Uttar Pradesh chief minister four times. She is also the lone woman member of the community to have held the post.

-- Jitan Ram Manjhi served as Bihar’s third Dalit chief minister from May 2014 to February 2015.

-- Jagannath Pahadia served as Rajasthan chief minister from June 1980 to July 1981. He was the first Dalit to hold the post in the state. A Congress leader, Pahadia also served as the governor of Haryana and Bihar.