Punjab Polls: Is Channi Congress Pick for CM Face? Party's Twitter Handle Uses Sonu Sood to Make a Point

Has the Congress finally picked its chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab assembly elections? And is it incumbent chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi? From what can be seen on its official Twitter handle, the grand old party used actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood’s statement that people want “a person from humble origins” as the CM.

In a video posted by Congress Twitter that has gone viral, Sood is seen saying “a person who becomes CM only after being pressed into it can bring about change”, followed by a montage of Channi’s visuals and dramatic background music pitching him as the man for the CM’s job.

In the video, Sood says, “The real chief minister, or even, king, is a person who is pressed to do the job… it should be a backbencher, someone who is brought from the back of the room and given the job, and is told you deserve it. Only such a person can bring about change. The person should not have to tell everyone that he should be chief minister…”

Captioning the video clip, the Congress in Hindi has said, “Punjab is saying we will empower one and all with our stamp.”

There is, however, no official statement by the Congress or even the state unit about Channi being picked as the CM face.

Until last week, the top leadership in the Congress was in a bind over state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s apparent insistence and posturing on being declared the chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly elections. But it looks like it is not the case now as Sidhu’s face is completely missing from the video clip.

It is also being said Channi’s handling of the recent controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security lapse in Ferozepur seems to have helped his case and make the Gandhis see the bigger picture.

The official Twitter handle of the Punjab Congress has also shared the video clip.

Sources have said it was Rahul and Priyanka idea to pick a Dalit leader as the CM in September when Captain Amarinder Singh was ousted from the top job, following an in-house feud with Sidhu. The high command had reposed its faith in Sidhu to keep the flock together after Captain’s exit.

Over the past week, after the PM security lapse issue, the scales have tipped in Channi’s favour. He has thrown the ball back into the BJP’s court over allegations that his government compromised Modi’s security when the PM’s cavalcade was stuck on a flyover on Moga-Ferozepur highway in the midst of a farmers’ blockade.

Channi reportedly told Priyanka that the BJP had made the allegation of security threat because of “poor turnout” at an election rally Modi was scheduled to address. The PM had returned without attending the rally following the security breach.

Since assuming power, Channi has learned the art of playing to the gallery, from stopping to help road accident victims to meeting protesters. Internal surveys suggest Channi’s stock has risen over the last few days. For once, Sidhu was late in responding.

The 47-year-old CM became the first Dalit to get Punjab’s top post, and projecting him is an attempt to appeal to 33% of the state’s population.

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