New Delhi: After a long tussle and flurry of meetings, Congress finally proposed Charanjit Singh Channi's name for the Punjab Chief Minister position. Channi will take oath as the 16th Chief Minister of the state at 11 am today.
Charanjit Singh Channi will be the first Dalit Sikh leader to become the Chief Minister of Punjab. Along with Channi, two Deputy Chief Ministers will be administered the oath by Governor Banwarilal Purohit at 11 am today.
AICC Treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal tweeted and revealed that Sukhjinder Randhawa, who was the frontrunner for the CM post just a few hours before Channi’s appointment has been given the post of deputy Chief Minister along with Brahm Mohindra (MLA from Patiala rural)
Earlier, Congress' in-charge of Punjab Harish Rawat had revealed that since the Chief Minister is a Dalit Sikh, the party has chosen one deputy chief minister from the Jat Sikh community and one from the Hindu community.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Chandigarh and the event will be a small gathering of 40 people.
Charanjit Singh Channi, 49, becomes chief minister with less than six months to go before the assembly polls in Punjab. An estimated 30 per cent of the state's population, counting both Sikhs and Hindus, is from that community. The opposition BJP had earlier announced that if voted to power in Punjab, it will make a Dalit the chief minister, while the Shiromani Akali Dal -- which is fighting the polls in alliance with the BSP -- had said that its deputy CM would be from that community.