A day after Sunil Jakhar reportedly claimed that 42 MLAs wanted him as the chief minister of Punjab after the unceremonious exit of Capt Amarinder Singh last year, the AAP and the BJP hit out at the ruling Congress.
While AAP leader Raghav Chadha accused the Congress of doing politics on the basis of caste and religion, Union minister and the BJP’s in-charge for Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat questioned the “selective secularism” of the grand old party by “refusing” to make Jakhar the chief minister “because of his religion”.
Addressing reporters, Chadha alleged that the former Punjab Congress president was not appointed to the top post because he is a Hindu.
“The Congress is conspiring to divide people on the basis of caste and religion by giving a religious color to the politics of Punjab. The biggest example of this is senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar. Even after the support of 42 MLAs, he was not appointed as the chief minister just because he is a Hindu,” he said.
The AAP leader said it was shameful that the Congress “expelled” Jakhar from the race to the chief minister’s chair just because he belongs to a particular community. He asked the Congress that when Jakhar was not in the race for the top post, why his photos are on the hoardings of the party along with those of Sidhu and Channi.
“The Congress is giving only two options to people to choose its chief ministerial face — Sidhu and Channi. Why is Jakhar not an option?” Chadha asked, referring to the ruling party seeking public opinion on who should be its nominee for the top post in the February 20 polls.
He said “Punjab is the land of Gurus and people here don’t discriminate on the basis of caste or religion,” he said.
Shekhawat questioned the “selective secularism” of the Congress by refusing to make Jakhar the chief minister “because of his religion”.
“By his own admission, Jakhar was not made the chief minister even though he enjoyed the support of 42 of the 79 MLAs as he is a Hindu and some leaders in the party believed that only a Sikh should be the chief minister,” Shekhawat said in a statement here while asking the Congress to explain its position.
“I want to ask the Congress that whether for becoming the chief minister in Punjab, is it a condition that one should not be a Hindu? Why shut the doors of chief ministership on someone only for his religion?” he asked.
“The revelation about him not being made the chief minister for his religion was not made by anyone else but Jakhar himself, who is a respected leader cutting across party lines,” Shekhawat said.
In a video clip that surfaced online, Jakhar is heard saying 42 Congress MLAs wanted him to be the chief minister after Amarinder Singh’s exit. He was addressing a gathering in Abohar.
Jakhar was among the frontrunners for the top post, but the party preferred Charanjit Singh Channi, who became the first Scheduled Caste (SC) chief minister of Punjab. “Forty-two votes went to Sunil (Jakhar), 16 to Sukhjinder Randhawa, 12 to (Amarinder Singh’s wife and Patiala MP) Preneet Kaur, six to (Punjab Congress chief) Navjot Singh Sidhu and two to Channi,” Jakhar is heard saying in the clip.
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