The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for electing Charanjit Singh Channi, who was an accused in 2018 #MeToo case, as the next Chief Minister of Punjab. According to this three-year-old case, Channi had allegedly sent “inappropriate text messages” to a woman IAS officer. However, the complaint was never filed into the matter and the then state chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh claimed that the issue had been “resolved”.
Sharing a news article on Twitter, BJP’s national IT department in-charge Amit Malviya said, “Congress’s CM pick Charanjit Channi faces action in a 3-year-old #MeToo case. He had allegedly sent an inappropriate text to a woman IAS officer in 2018. It was covered up but the case resurfaced when Punjab Women’s Commission sent notice. Well done, Rahul.”
Last week, the Punjab Women’s Commission sent a notice to the Congress-led state government and asked it to respond within a week. Manisha Gulati, the panel’s chief, also warned to go for a sit-in protest if the government failed to do so.
“The victim has now got herself transferred outside Punjab. IAS officers are pressuring me to take action. So, I have sent notice to the Punjab government. When the state Chief Secretary is a woman, the national party president is a woman, then how come a woman IAS officer can’t get justice? If the government doesn’t respond within a week, I will go for a sit-in protest,” she told NDTV.
For the unversed, AICC general secretary Harish Rawat today evening announced on Twitter Channi was elected the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Punjab and will be the next chief minister. Channi, the Congress’ Dalit face, will be succeeding Captain Amarinder Singh who resigned a day ago following a bitter power tussle in the party.
Channi’s selection assumes significance as the dissension-riven Congress faces the assembly polls in less than five months. The BJP had earlier announced that if voted to power in Punjab, it will make a Dalit the chief minister, while the SAD, which is fighting the coming polls in alliance with the BSP, had said that its Deputy Chief Minister would be from the Dalit community.
Amarinder Singh said he hopes that Channi is able to keep the border state of Punjab safe. “My best wishes to Charanjit Singh Channi. I hope he’s able to keep the border state of Punjab safe and protect our people from the growing security threat from across the border,” he said.
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