Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as Punjab Chief Minister

Newly-appointed Dalit-Sikh Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi took oath of office at a simple ceremony in the Punjab capital.

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni, both ministers in previous Council of Ministers led by Amarinder Singh, were also sworn in.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached the venue a little late and the oath-taking ceremony was almost over. Former Amarinder Singh was absent from the ceremony.

Amarinder Singh on Sunday greeted his 58-year-old successor, by saying, "My best wishes to Charanjit Singh Channi. I hope he's able to keep the border state of Punjab safe and protect our people from the growing security threat from across the border."

Ahead of his oath-taking ceremony, the chief minister-designate on Monday morning paid obeisance at Gurdwara Katalgarh Sahib at Chamkaur Sahib, his home constituency.

Channi was accompanied by his family.

Three-time legislator from the Chamkaur Sahib assembly constituency in Rupnagar district, Channi had joined the Congress in 2012 and was holding the portfolios of Technical Education, Industrial Training, Employment Generation and Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the outgoing cabinet.

The new chief minister was congratulated by the prime minister. In his message on Twitter, prime minister Modi said, "Congratulations to Shri Charanjit Singh Channi Ji on being sworn-in as Punjab’s Chief Minister. Will continue to work with the Punjab government for the betterment of the people of Punjab".

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati too congratulated Charanjit Channi and said, "I congratulate Charanjit Singh Channi on becoming Punjab CM. It would have been better if he had been appointed as CM earlier."

Amarinder Singh on Saturday resigned from his post as the Chief Minister after months of political tussle, saying he stepped down as he felt 'humiliated'.

At the same time, he said that the "future politics option is always there and I will use that option".

Amarinder Singh also termed Sidhu as a 'disaster' who would not be acceptable to him as his successor.

Born on March 1, 1963, at Makrona Kalan village in Ropar, Channi did his schooling from Kharar and enrolled into Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Chandigarh, where he was elected as the general secretary of the student union. After being a student leader, Channi had an appetite for a career in politics and never looked back.

Manmohan Singh, one of Channi’s elder brothers, said they had a joint family of four brothers staying at Kharar. Channi’s wife Kamaljit Kaur is a doctor by profession in the Punjab government. The couple have two sons, Navjit Singh and Rhythmjit Singh.

While brushing up on his leadership qualities, Channi also continued studies and did his LLB from Panjab University Chandigarh and MBA from Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. He was also a very good player and participated in national-level competitions in handball.

Channi earnestly jumped into active politics in 1992 when he was elected a member of Kharar Municipal Council. He was subsequently made chief of the civic body in 2002.

In 2007, Channi won from Chamkaur Sahib Assembly Constituency as an independent candidate, defeating SAD candidate Bibi Satwant Kaur Sandhu. He was elected from the same seat in 2012 and 2017 on a Congress ticket.

He served as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2016. From 2017 to 2021, Channi served as Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training in the Capt. Amarinder Singh cabinet.

With IANS inpus