Gandhi called Channi a ‘gareeb aadmi’. Opposition says CM is not poor

Is Charanjit Singh Channi a “poor man”? 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described Channi as a “gareeb aadmi” while nominating him as the party’s chief ministerial pick last week. But opposition leaders, and even PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, have claimed that the CM is worth several crores at least – an assertion that is making some Congress leaders uneasy as the state goes to polls.

According to reports, a number of Congress leaders feel that Gandhi should have referred to Channi as “aam aadmi”, rather than “gareeb aadmi”. Sources said the party wanted to play the Dalit card – Channi is the first Dalit CM of Punjab, despite the state having the highest concentration of Dalits in the country of any state – but also wanted to appear to be secular. So it decided to project him as a “poor man”.

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann was the first to raise the issue, claiming that Channi had property worth ₹170 crore. The CM, though, hit back, saying Mann was not even capable of basis maths.

The CM called Mann “illiterate”. In his election affidavit, Channi said, he had put his net worth at ₹1.70 crore.

However, as per Channi’s affidavit submitted to the election commission, he and his wife are worth ₹9.44 crore.

After Mann, several political leaders attacked Channi. Sidhu’s family also countered Gandhi’s claim that Channi was a “poor man”.

Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur said: “If you check the IT returns of Channi and Sidhu, the latter would turn out to be poorer than the former.”

Former PPCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo said Channi was being portrayed as a poor Dalit when, “in my view, he should not be called a Dalit anymore considering the wealth he has”.

BJP leader Tarun Chugh said a person with a multi-crore property portfolio could not be called poor.

Former chief minister Amarinder Singh referred to raids by Enforcement Directorate on Channi’s nephew. On Wednesday he asked: “How can Channi claim to be a poor aam aadmi?” Amarinder said ₹10 crore confiscated from his nephew were earned from illegal sand mining as well as transfers and postings.

Akali chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also asked how could anyone be poor if his nephew had ₹10 crore at home.