Charanjit vs Charanjit: Namesake eye surgeon who beat Punjab CM

A former PGIMER eye surgeon-turned politician managed to defeat incumbent Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was also the CM candidate for the Congress in this 2022 assembly election, in his bastion Chamkaur Sahib.

The ophthalmologist, an Aam Aadmi Party leader happened to be Channi’s namesake – Dr Charanjit Singh (60), who won by a small margin of 5,000 votes.

Dr Singh had been an ophthalmologist in Chandigarh till a few years ago. A philanthropist, he had quit his job to set up his own clinic at Morinda and started organising free eye camps for the poor in the area. Later, he even set up a hospital as well at Morinda and worked along with several philanthropist clubs. He was associated with the Congress party’s SC cell for many years and tried for a party ticket without much success.

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In 2017, Dr Singh was handpicked by the AAP to contest against Channi, who had nurtured his constituency as an Independent and later as Congress MLA. However, the doctor lost to Channi by a margin of 12,308 votes.

According to sources who told reporters, Dr Singh never lost touch with the constituency. He would take care of the poor and even pay from his pocket to supply lenses after cataract surgery for the needy. This made him quite popular in the constituency.

The election at Chamkaur Sahib was a straight fight between the two namesakes and the voters were categorical that “one of the Channis would win.” An AAP leader said that it was not easy to defeat the incumbent CM, who was also the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress.

Meanwhile, Channi tweeted that he humbly accepted the verdict of the people of Punjab and congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party and their elected Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Ji for the victory. “I hope they will deliver on the expectations of people,” he added.