Going through backlash over his remarks on Dalit illustration, Jalandhar MP and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday accused political rivals of trying to tarnish the Congress social gathering’s picture.
Talking at Thikriwala village in Barnala after paying tribute to freedom fighter Sardar Sewa Singh Thikriwala, Channi sought to undertaking a unified entrance. He defended his tenure as CM, asserting that his insurance policies, such because the waiver of electrical energy payments and common distribution of faculty uniforms, had been designed for the collective advantage of all Punjabis, no matter caste.
“Punjab is sort of a bouquet of numerous religions and castes. My imaginative and prescient has all the time been to develop the state by taking each neighborhood and part of society alongside,” Channi mentioned.
The controversy erupted after a video, reportedly from a gathering in Chandigarh on Saturday, surfaced on-line. Within the clip, Channi is purportedly heard questioning the social gathering’s management construction in a state the place the Dalit inhabitants stands between 35% and 38%. “The Punjab (Congress) president, the CLP chief, the ladies’s wing chief, and even the AICC basic secretary in-charge are all from the higher castes. The place do Dalits go?” Channi is heard saying within the video. Hindustan Instances couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the clip.
Seizing the second, BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon took to X to ask Channi to affix the saffron social gathering, praising his “management” on Dalit points. Nonetheless, Channi dismissed rumours of a defection, calling himself a “true soldier” of the Congress and asserting his dedication to the social gathering’s future.
