Congress in a surprise choice picked Charanjit Singh Channi as the next chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dailt to hold the post in the state, a day after Amarinder Singh resigned following a bitter power tussle in the party.
Channi, who met Governor Banwarilal Purohit to stake his claim to the top job in the poll-bound state soon after being elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, will be sworn in on Monday morning.
Party sources said two deputy chief ministers may also take the oath to balance caste equations after the appointment of a CM from the state’s Ravidassia Dalit community.
The party settled on Channi, the technical education minister in the outgoing Amarinder Singh cabinet, after a flurry of consultations through the day, following the abrupt cancellation of an 11 am meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).
