NEW DELHI: For all the politicking involved in the Punjab power play, the nomination of Charanjit Channi as chief minister breaks more than a few glass ceilings and social and political barriers. For the first time post-Independence, the state with the highest ratio of Dalit population (32%) has got a CM from the underprivileged community.
In terms of symbolism, it does not get bigger. No political party has managed to jettison the Jatt Sikh domination in the state despite their population being only around equal to other social groups like OBCs and Dalits. In the last four decades, the bipolarity between Akali Dal and Congress ensured that they reigned supreme.
The Congress decision to pick Channi ahead of many other, even stronger, candidates betrays a calculation driven by politics in view of coming polls. A mainstream political party, that too national, has crossed the Rubicon. Such decisions have till now not happened because they carry the risk of a backlash from the dominant groups. There is also the question of the credibility of the choice in view of a short run till elections and Channi having been in a few avoidable controversies.
Terming the selection of Channi as “significant”, veteran JNU sociologist Surinder Jodhka said, “Everybody is thinking in terms of identities now. The way Akali Dal has tied up with BSP, and BJP has been trying to win over Dalits…. It shows how the Dalit constituency has become autonomous. This is what democracy has done.” He attributed the choice of CM to courage of the Congress party to go beyond symbolism. Giani Zail Singh was the last non-Jatt CM in Punjab, and he was from the artisan OBC community. And that was in the 1970s. The idea of a Dalit CM in Punjab has been so improbable that Akali Dal has promised to make a Dalit as deputy CM if voted to power.