Charanjit Singh Channi, the outgoing Technical Education Minister – is the first Dalit leader to be appointed as the new Chief Minister of Punjab. Mr Channi belongs to the Ramdasia Sikh community and had voiced Dalit issues in the state. He too had revolted against Amarinder Singh’s administration taking a part in the anti-Amarinder campaign.
Charanjit Channi is involved in many controversies like Flipping a coin for posting, Rode elephant on the advice of an astrologer and objectionable messages to a woman IAS officer. But the new chief minister is fond of academics. The trained lawyer holds two post-graduation degrees – one in political science and the second in business administration.
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Channi started as a student leader and now he is the Chief Minister of Punjab. Channi hails from the Ramdasia community and has actively fought for the Dalits and had been seeking greater representation of Dalits in the Cabinet, given their large numbers in the party.
“I study for the love of education, not qualification,” the new CM said.
It was during his stint as a councillor that he graduated in law from Panjab University. When he was first elected a legislator from Chamkaur Sahib, he made time to pursue MBA from Punjab Technical University. “I thought it was a good subject,” he said.
It was while serving as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in 2016 that he completed his post-graduation in political science from PU. It wasn’t easy, he recounts, telling you how he took lessons from a professor of political science in Delhi.
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Last heard, he wanted to enroll for a Ph.D. in the Indian National Congress in the political science department of Panjab University.
He was one of the MLAs who have revolted against the former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, which gathered pace this April. Last fortnight he was one of the four ministers who met Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat in Dehradun and a day later thanked ‘then’ Chief Minister for taking steps in favour of Scheduled Caste students.
Channi, 47-year-old, was born in Makrona Kalan village, near Chamkaur Sahib and later his family settled in Kharar, where he worked as the municipal councillor for three terms and went on to become the President for two more.