In what is being seen as the most significant rebellion from within the Congress stable in Punjab so far, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s younger brother, Dr Manohar Singh, has declared that he will contest as an independent candidate from Bassi Pathana constituency.
Manohar’s claim was denied apparently because of the party’s ‘one family, one ticket’ rule. Channi did not immediately react. Bassi Pathana falls in the Puaadh cultural region of Punjab and is seen as the home turf of Channi and his clan.
The Congress has declared sitting MLA Gurpreet Singh GP as its candidate from Bassi Pathana in Fatehgarh Sahib district, in the first list released earlier this week. The segment is reserved for scheduled castes.
Manohar, who will make his political debut, resigned from government service as senior medical officer (SMO) before throwing in his hat for an innings as a politician.
Besides the ‘one family, one ticket’ rule, he also did not have the support of state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had held a rally in support of GP Singh even after Manohar had made his claim to the ticket.
Sidhu had said he would meet Manohar to pacify him, but the latter has said a meeting never took place. Manohar’s candidature is thus being seen not only as an embarrassment to the party and to Channi, but possibly even a salvo from the Channi camp against Sidhu.
Manohar told some Punjabi web channels that Channi told him to reconsider his decision. But Manohar said, “I met my brother (Channi) this morning (Sunday) also. I told him that I have to go with what the public wants and they want me to contest as an independent… There’s no pressure from the family as such; my decision is simply based on what the public wants and my desire to serve the public.”
On whether he would take another party’s ticket, he said that he was approached but the public wanted him to contest only as an independent now. “I do hope the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (the party formed by farmer unions) supports me as I did my bit during their struggle.”
Manohar was last posted as the SMO of Kharar civil hospital in Mohali district. His resignation became public in December though he has said he had submitted it in August.
In his interviews now, Manohar underlined his work at the Nandpur Kalour primary health centre during the Covid-19 pandemic last year. “I turned the Nandpur Kalour PHC into an example for others. By contrast, GP (MLA Gurpreet Singh) does not even know how to get people’s basic works done. He’s not educated enough to even know how to do that.”
Manohar is a postgraduate in anaesthesia and also holds a journalism master’s degree from Kurukshetra University. Like his brother Channi, he has also studied law from Panjab University, Chandigarh.
He also held posts in Punjab Civil Medical Services Association, and was part of protests against some of the recommendations under the 6th Pay Commission. He also runs an NGO called Saadi Saanjh, which holds health camps.
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