New Delhi:
Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar today blamed the party’s crushing defeat in the state on the choice of Charanjit Singh Channi.
“I don’t want them to make this mistake again. As he is built like a hero – a man who got caught with his hand in the till. For a leader you have chaal, chalan, charitra (good behavior, integrity, character There is nothing that inspires confidence in him. Do you want to build him as a hero, a mascot? I’m sorry, I won’t accept him,” Mr. Jakhar told DailyExpertNews, speaking to the outgoing Chief Minister in an exclusive interview.
“The congressman in Punjab deserves better.”
Weeks before the election, Mr Channi’s nephew, Bhupinder Singh Honey, was arrested after a large amount of cash was discovered in his home during raids by the Enforcement Directorate. Honey was accused of making money from illegal sand mining. Mr Channi distanced himself from the allegations.
Jakhar fired further truth bombs and said there was a perception that the new Chief Minister would get everything done in the limited time he had and that Mr Channi was acting out of greed.
“The perception of this government in the past 111 days was that the whole clan (Mr Channi) was working as if there was no tomorrow. Let’s make the most of every day – not to allay people’s concerns, but to address our own need for more money. This was the perception that the common man had. Aside from a newspaper ad that if we have something to do, come to us … we will do it. This kind of perception has let us down,” said the congressional leader.
He continued: “You can’t fight corruption with corruption. (Channi)’s relative was caught in the act. This man was caught with his hand in the till.”
The party’s disastrous campaign in Punjab, he said, was a combination of “making one mistake after another” and poor choices, driven by senior leaders who “mislead” the Gandhis.
The congress, ravaged by power struggles in Punjab, lost last week in elections to Arvind Kejriwal’s eight-year-old Aam Aadmi (AAP) party.
Mr Jakhar said he had hoped the issues would be discussed in detail in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting yesterday, but instead saw “sycophants”.
Leaving behind a long list of issues that he said “could have been solved differently”, Mr Jakhar said the defeat was “scripted by Harish Rawat”; the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister was Punjab in-charge.
“He came to Punjab with a set agenda,” noted Mr Jakhar, suggesting this was to promote Navjot Singh Sidhu, who aggressively demanded top billing in the run-up to the Punjab elections and played a major role in the replacement of Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister by Mr Channi four months before the election.
“I suspected what he was up to. He got his agenda carried out at the cost of bickering. I told Rahul (Rahul Gandhi) ji – he may be in charge of the Punjab Congress, but I never used him as my responsible accepted. can be in charge of Congress, but you cannot be in charge of me,” Jakhar said.
Jakhar pointed out that Mr. Rawat lost in his own seat in Uttarakhand and sneered, “Divine justice has been done – look at the hatred he got in Uttarakhand.”
The former Punjab Congress leader also questioned the logic of leaving the party’s prime minister candidate wide open even after the appointment of a new prime minister.
“After you have nominated Channi, it is insulting to ask who will be the prime minister. How can you say that? A general fights the war for you and you appoint another general? This is not the way,” said the gentleman jakhar.
Jakhar was also asked about his wry post, responding to Mr Channi being described as an “asset” during a congressional inquest on Sunday and appearing to be targeting Ambika Soni without naming her.
“An asset – are you kidding? Thank goodness he (Channi) was not named ‘National Treasure’ at the CWC by the ‘Pbi’ lady who first introduced him to CM” – Mr Jakhar tweeted this morning.
“Pbi is Punjabi,” said Mr. Jakhar. He did not deny that this “Punjabi lady” could be Ambika Soni, a longtime Rajya Sabha member who was allegedly given the position of Chief Minister but recommended Mr Channi for the job.
‘Why do you want me to name her? She’s very senior.’
But Mr Jakhar said he believes it is not all over yet for the Punjab Congress.
“A clunky outfit like the Aam Aadmi Party won’t last long. But we have to put a believable face here if we want to win,” he said.