NEW DELHI: Ending the impasse in Punjab Congress over the selection of the new chief minister (CM) who will succeed Captain Amarinder Singh, the party has announced the name of Chamkaur Sahib MLA Charanjit Singh Channi as the new leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab. Senior Congress leader and in-charge of the state, Harish Rawat announced Channi's name as the CM designate on Twitter.

In 2017Channi was appointed Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training in the second Amarinder Singh ministry. Channi was the leader of opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2016.

After the swearing-in which is scheduled tomorrow, 58-year-old Channi will become the first Dalit Sikh CM of Punjab and is seen as part of the party's political strategy to counter the growing clout of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which has announced that if voted to power, their top leader would be from the Dalit community in the state 

SAD has already announced a tie-up with Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to woo the Dalit community which constitute nearly 32% of the state population. 

Following the resignation of Singh, several names were being speculated for the post of the next CM, include that of Najyot Singh Sidhu and senior state Congress leader Sunil Jakhar. However, the top contender was senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa was at the forefront and his supporters had already begun to distribute sweets expecting an announcement on his name from the party high command.  

Thus Channi's name has come as a big surprise to everyone in the state. Punjab Congress officials said that his swearing-in has been scheduled tomorrow at about 11 am at the Raj Bhawan.