Punjab Election 2022: Sunil Jakhar puts Congress in a spot; claims Channi made CM with support of 2 MLAs

The Congress high command has been dithering over naming a chief ministerial candidate for the forthcoming assembly election in Punjab on February 20. Now, one of the party's top leaders in Punjab, Sunil Jakhar has left the party red-faced with an explosive statement.

Jakhar, a former president of the Congress party, has said that when Captain Amarinder was removed from the post of the chief minister, voting was done among the MLAs for the post. Jakhar claimed that he had then received the maximum number of votes. 

"I received votes of 42 MLAs; 16 votes were received by Sukhwinder Randhawa; 12 for Preneet Kaur and 6 votes for Navjot Singh Sidhu and two votes for Charanjit Singh Channi. Even after this, I was not made chief minister. I have no problem with this. Although Rahul Gandhi called me and asked me to become the Deputy chief minister, I refused it," Jakhar claimed. 

Jakhar's statement comes at a time when Congress is continuously trying to strengthen the position of CM Charanjit Singh Channi, who is contesting from two places.

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Senior Punjab journalist Sandeep Sharma said that Jakhar may have been upset with the manner in which Channi is getting support in the party. "Maybe Sunil Jakhar is preferred by more MLAs to the post of CM. But he should have said this thing then. Why did he keep quiet? Why are you speaking at this time? It shows that at some level that all is not well in the Congress," he said. 

The incident shows that party leaders are not comfortable with Channi. However, in Punjab, Congress has bet on Channi. There is no doubt that Sunil Jakhar is a senior leader of Congress. He has been an MLA from 2002 to 2017. He has been an MP from Gurdaspur from 2017 to 2019. He held the post of Congress state president and is a known Hindu face. 

Jakhar is a good orator and has always put the party above himself. Even after all the controversies with the Captain, he kept the party strong while being in the head post. But now the way he is speaking, those who watch the politics of Punjab are not considering it a right omen for Congress. Jakhar himself is not contesting the assembly elections this time. He is a member of the Congress party's campaign committee. The party gave the election ticket to his nephew Sandeep Jakhar.

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