New Delhi: Punjab’s former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, whose appointment to the top post was projected as the Congress’s masterstroke in terms of Dalit outreach, has been staying abroad for over three months, leaving his party guessing about his future plans.
He left India early in May, it is learnt, around eight weeks after the Congress suffered a drubbing in the state assembly elections and Channi himself lost from both the seats he contested.
Channi has been shuttling between the US and Canada for the past three months, staying with his relatives and friends, ThePrint has learnt.
The Congress’s Punjab unit chief, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, said the former CM’s absence at this point was “unfortunate”.
“He did not inform the party unit while leaving India, nor do we know about his return plans. His absence from Punjab and the party’s activities at such a crucial point is unfortunate,” Warring told ThePrint.
Channi currently holds no official position in the Congress’s Punjab unit.
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Conspicuously absent after poll losses, amid mining probe
A Congress leader who did not wish to be identified said that Channi has gone into a sort of “political exile”, citing several reasons for it — from his defeats in the state elections, to being dragged into investigations concerning alleged illegal mining, and being given no official position in the party’s Punjab unit.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was a deputy to the former Punjab CM, also sounded uncertain about Channi’s plans.
“Over the past few months, he has been outside India and I have spoken with him only twice over the phone. I do not know anything about why he went abroad, when he plans to return, etc. But as far as being given or not being given an official position in the party is concerned, even I do not have one at this moment. But all that is part of a politician’s life,” he told ThePrint.
According to Channi’s younger brother Manohar Singh, the ex-CM was abroad as he had to attend “several important functions”.
“Since early May, he has been outside India, mostly travelling in the USA and Canada. His wife (Kamaljit Kaur) is with him. They had to attend several important functions in those countries where they have friends and relatives,” he told ThePrint.
He added, however, that Channi keeps in touch with party workers and is expected to return to India soon. “I cannot tell you the exact date though,” said Manohar Singh, who himself had unsuccessfully contested the Punjab assembly polls as an independent candidate after being denied a Congress ticket.
But Warring said, “I do not know who are the people in the party he (Channi) keeps in touch with. I am not one of them.”
Speaking to The Tribune on 5 August, Channi had dismissed “rumours” about his “political exile”. He had said that he was in the US on a “private visit” but also mentioned that he was there for “treatment”, and claimed that he would return soon, without mentioning specific dates.
“There is no FIR or summons against me. I am abroad for my medical treatment and will be back soon,” he told The Tribune over phone.
These developments come in the backdrop of Channi being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for over six hours on 14 April in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to alleged sand mining in the state. He is also likely to face an inquiry in another illegal mining case being probed by the Punjab Police, which comes under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
From everywhere to nowhere
Channi, who is a prominent Dalit leader in Punjab, took charge as chief minister in September 2021, replacing Captain Amarinder Singh.
It was then seen as a political masterstroke by the Congress in terms of its message to Dalits not only in Punjab, but in other states too.
Channi was named the CM face by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi weeks before this year’s assembly election. The announcement came at a time when infighting within the party was no longer a closed-door affair, with Channi facing strong resistance from Navjot Singh Sidhu, who too was in the race to be the Congress’s CM candidate.
In the run-up to the assembly elections, Channi sought to project himself as an ordinary man, seeking to counter the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He had meals with villagers, helped rescue a cow that had fallen in the ditch, stopped his car to greet newlyweds and drank tea with autorickshaw drivers.
On 10 March, AAP won the Punjab polls with a majority of 92 out of 117 seats — seemingly riding on a mass wave for badlaav (change) — leaving the Congress with 18 seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with three and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with two.
Channi had contested from two assembly seats — Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur. He lost both to AAP’s candidates — Bhadaur by a margin of 37,558 votes and his home turf Chamkaur Sahib by 7,942 votes.
Channi did attend the first few Congress meetings that went on for a month after the party’s loss in the state polls, senior party leaders told ThePrint.
According to Congress sources, it was on 3 May (Eid) that Channi was last seen attending a public event in Punjab. He is learnt to have left Punjab less than a week after that.
Since mid-May, the former CM had mostly only been making Twitter appearances.
He expressed his condolences on Twitter after singer Sidhu Moose Wala was killed, which is learnt to have surprised many within the Congress; they hadn’t known about Channi leaving India and were expecting him at the funeral. Channi was the one who had inducted the popular artiste into the party ahead of the state polls.
He was also missing in action as the Congress campaigned ahead of the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll, but tweeted his congratulations to winner Simranjit Singh Mann of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) on 26 June.
Since then, he has been missing from Twitter too.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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