Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is likely to get the Congress ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Jalandhar as per sources. Congress is likely to make an announcement soon regarding this, which means he will be going up against AAP’s Sushil Rinku, who had secured the victory in Jalandhar in 2023 by-elections. If Channi gets the ticket, experts say that it could be a tough fight for political rival Sushil Rinku in Jalandhar.
It is important to note that Jalandhar’s Lok Sabha seat has been traditionally Congress’ with Santokh Singh Choudhary having been previous Member Parliament from Jalandhar. Following his death, Congress had given the ticket to his wife, Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary for the bypolls in Jalandhar, who lost to Ex-Congress, now Aam Aadmi Party MP Sushil Kumar Rinku. However, with Channi’s entry into the mix, Congress takes the fight to AAP, as Channi, being the Dalit face of Congress, stands a good chance of victory in Jalandhar thanks to the Dalit majority voterbase of Doaba region of Punjab.
However, Channi’s appointment as party candidate could compel AAP to change tactics and appoint Balkar Singh as the party candidate from Jalandhar, as he could also sway the Dalit voters to his side, putting up a challenging fight against Channi.
Channi was appointed the Chief Minister after Capt. Amarinder Singh’s resignation from the post of CM of Punjab. He was dethroned however by yet another AAP Candidate in the form of now Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, with AAP also winning the majority of 92 out of total 117 seats in the Punjab Legislative assembly. Congress will be likely attempting to win back the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat which has traditionally been Congress’ in the past since the 1999, which makes Channi a strong contender for the seat in Jalandhar.