Five things to know about new Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi

Charanjit Singh Channi was appointed the next chief minister of Punjab on September 19, a day after the resignation of incumbent CM Captain Amarinder Singh.

The effective tenure of Channi, 58, as chief minister, will, however, be brief given that the assembly elections in Punjab is scheduled in February 2022.

Here are five things to know about the new chief minister of Punjab.

• Born on March 1, 1963, in Chamkaur Sahib, Channi is the first Dalit leader to become chief minister of Punjab. He belongs to the Ramdasia Sikh community.


• In early 2000s, Channi won civic bodies polls on a Congress ticket from Kharar town of Punjab’s Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali) district. In 2007, he rebelled against the party nominee and won the assembly elections as an Independent candidate. He won again on a Congress ticket in 2012 and 2017. Channi was inducted as minister of technical educational and industrial training in the outgoing Amarinder Singh cabinet in March 2017.


• A three-time legislator from Chamkaur Sahib Assembly Constituency in Rupnagar district, Channi was the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly from 2015 to 2016 during the previous SAD-BJP regime.

• Channi has been vocal against Amarinder Singh for not paying attention to issues raised by party leaders and was among those who went to meet Harish Rawat in Dehradun last month. He was among four cabinet ministers who had led the protest against Amarinder Singh.


• In October 2018, Channi was in the crosshairs of an unsavoury controversy after a woman IAS officer accused him of sending “inappropriate” text messages to her. Channi had said then that he was targeted because he was a Dalit.