The day after the Congress named Charanjit Singh Channi as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Punjab elections on February 20, Sunil Jakhar, the party's former state unit chief and a prominent Hindu leader, announced his retirement from politics and that he would not run in the elections.
Sunil Jakhar, a senior Congress leader, slammed Ambika Soni today, saying, "Ambika Soni opposed me becoming CM." Even though I had 40 MLAs in my favor, I was not appointed CM," he stated.
He said, "I am proud to be a Hindu, and Indian, and even prouder to be a Punjabi."
"The building up of this Hindu vs Sikh problem is an insult to Punjab, which is so secular in spirit," Jakhar remarked, without mentioning Soni. In the state, we've had to deal with a lot. With a lot of effort, it's returned to normal."
"When I was the CLP leader, I had no vote," Jakhar said of earning the most votes in the telephonic choice collected from MLAs on Sunday. I didn't have a vote when I was appointed to lead the PPCC. "Then why didn't they say anything?"
He stated that Congress was committed to its ideology. "But then there are some elements who play dirty.”
He also stated that he does not want to harm the Congress party and that the opposition's response, which includes questions about why a Hindu cannot become Punjab's chief minister, is "poor politics." These attempts, according to Jakhar, are opportunistic, adding that Punjabi society is secular and will not be influenced by the opposition's remarks.
Many of his colleagues, whose names he did not give, claimed that if he became chief minister, "all hell will break loose" in the state. "It's tough for me to deal with individuals who occupy prominent positions in the Punjab Congress and have this kind of narrow thinking," he remarked.