Phillaur: Opposing ticket to Charanjit Singh Channi, women workers stage protest

Phillaur, May 2

Upset over the Congress leadership’s decision to field Charanjit Singh Channi from Jalandhar for the Lok Sabha election, a group of women workers staged a protest against him in Phillaur assembly constituency here today.

Raising slogans of ‘Channi murdabad’, the protesters said he had a dubious track record of behaving inappropriately with women and they could not vote for someone like him. They said the people of a constituency have to approach an MP for their work, so the person representing them should be of impeccable character, adding that women would be afraid of meeting a person like Channi.

The protesting women also expressed their disapproval over sidelining of the family of former Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary by the Congress. Raising slogans of ‘Chaudhary Santokh Singh zindabad’ and ‘Chaudhary Vikramjit Singh zindabad’, they said the family had worked for decades in the constituency, but the party leadership had humiliated them. They said the people of Phillaur treat the Chaudhary family like their own. “Channi is an outsider. If he is elected to the Lok Sabha, will we have to go to Chamkaur Sahib to meet him,” they asked.

Some migrant women present at the protest site recalled Channi’s disparaging remarks against migrants during the previous Vidhan Sabha election in the presence of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They said Channi had insulted them in the presence of a member of the Congress’ first family and action should be taken against him.

The protest underscored the deep-seated grievances and disillusionment among Congress workers in Phillaur, pointing at the huge challenge for Channi’s electoral campaign.