Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday said he would talk to his brother Manohar Singh over the denial of the Congress ticket to him. Channi made the remark after his brother said he will contest as an independent from the Bassi Pathana assembly seat against the sitting Congress MLA.
Channi also indicated that he may try to prevail upon his brother not to jump in the fray against the sitting MLA Gurpreet Singh GP from the constituency.
Channi’s brother Manohar Singh, who was eyeing a Congress ticket from the Bassi Pathana assembly seat, had on Sunday said he will contest as an independent from the constituency after the ruling party fielded its sitting legislator Gurpreet Singh GP. “He sought ticket but party denied it. GP (the sitting MLA) too is our brother. Will make them sit and talk and issue will be resolved,” Channi told reporters here. In its first list of 86 candidates, the Congress party on Saturday gave the ticket to party MLA Gurpreet Singh GP from Bassi Pathana (SC) seat. Manohar Singh had dubbed the decision of the Congress giving ticket to Gurpreet Singh GP as “injustice” to the people of the constituency and alleged that the sitting legislator was “incapable and ineffective.”
Singh had said he took the decision to contest as an independent after meeting several councillors, village sarpanch and panch who asked him to fight the polls. Singh, an MBBS and MD, had in August last year resigned as a senior medical officer from Kharar Civil Hospital. Replying to a question on his brother saying he will contest as an independent, Channi said, “As far as my brother is concerned, we live in a joint family. My brother became a doctor after doing MD. He was employed as a government doctor and was posted in the Bassi Pathana as SMO.” “The MLA of the area GP got him transferred. He (Manohar) also told the MLA that he is the brother of the minister (Channi was a Minister then in the Amarinder Singh-led Cabinet). At this (after the MLA got him transferred), my brother took the decision to quit the job and later people of the area told him that he should contest the election”. Asked why had the MLA got his brother transferred, Channi replied, “Maybe he thought at that time that he may fight election”.
Replying to another question, Channi said senior Punjab Congress leader and former MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s displeasure over denial of the ticket from the Adampur assembly seat was justified and added party will definitely think about this. “He is our tall leader, he has been our state unit president,” Channi said. Kaypee had on Sunday expressed his displeasure over denial of the ticket from the Adampur assembly seat, saying his family is targeted by the party every election. Earlier in the day, AAP leader Raghav Chadha had alleged that by denying tickets to the brother and another relative of Punjab Chief Minister Channi, the Congress has proved that it had made him CM merely for “using him as a tool” to get the Scheduled Caste votes. Apart from Channi’s brother, the CM’s relative Mohinder Singh Kaypee, who wanted the ticket from the Adampur seat in Jalandhar, was also denied it, said Chadha, alleging that Kaypee was denied the ticket because he was Channi’s relative. Chadha, however, had said the ruling party gave tickets to the sons of Fatehgarh Sahib MP Amar Singh and minister Brahm Mohindra. Chadha further alleged that the Congress in the past had appointed Sushil Kumar Shinde as the chief minister of Maharashtra for a few months to woo votes of a particular community and later after the elections, Shinde was removed.
