Charanjit Singh Channi to be next CM of Punjab

Charanjit Singh Channi has been named Captian Amarinder Singh's successor as the new Punjab Chief Minister.

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New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday (September 19, 2021) named Charanjit Singh Channi as Captian Amarinder Singh's successor for the new Punjab Chief Minister. The Punjab Congress Legislative Party (CLP) elected Channi as the leader paving his way for appointment as the chief minister.

The development comes a day after Singh's unexpected resignation amid a bitter battle for power with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu just months ahead of the state Assembly polls.

AICC general secretary Harish Rawat made the announcement via in a tweet. He wrote: "It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Charanjit Singh Channi has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab." 

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Sh. #CharanjitSinghChanni has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab.@INCIndia @RahulGandhi @INCPunjab pic.twitter.com/iboTOvavPd — Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) September 19, 2021

On Saturday, Amarinder Singh, 79,  quit as the Chief Minister saying that he felt "humiliated" over the way the party handled the protracted crisis.

Singh, one of the Congress' powerful regional satraps, had put in his papers after speaking to the Congress president and shortly before a crucial meeting of the CLP here on Saturday evening.He had later launched a no-holds-barred attack against Sidhu, describing his bete noire, a cricketer-turned-politician, as a "total disaster".

The names of former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, the party's current state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were also doing the rounds.