Channi, Randhawa lead Congress team, signal thaw

Two senior Congress leaders from Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi and SS Randhawa, who have been on a warpath against state party president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, on Thursday led a party delegation in Chandigarh to meet the governor over the suicide of Dalit agricultural labourer Gulzar Singh in Sangrur and also to complain about the law and order situation in the state under the AAP government.

The Channi-Randhawa move is being seen in party circles as an attempt to signal a thaw, coinciding with newly-appointed AICC general secretary in-charge Sachin Pilot holding discussions with various factional leaders to explore a truce formula in the party in the poll-bound state.

Channi blamed AAP minister HS Cheema and others for the suicide of Gulzar, who had filed a police complaint seeking information about the suppliers of drugs in his area. "A man named Gulzar raised the issue of drugs, but you (AAP government) sent the police to his house. His son did not even get a chance to pay tribute to his father. Their MLAs (AAP) are involved in drugs. We demand that Cheemaji resign and be arrested," Channi told journalists.


Randhawa said, "We will definitely hold a big protest. We want justice for the family. I don't know where the chief minister (Bhagwant Mann) has been since the day he took office. He should tell us what happened and how it happened. Drugs that were earlier limited to certain areas are now reaching homes across the state."