Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as chief minister of Punjab. He is the first Dalit to hold this post in the state. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered oath to Channi at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu congratulated Channi after the oath-taking ceremony.

The party settled on Channi, the technical education minister in the outgoing Amarinder Singh cabinet, after a flurry of consultations through the day, following the abrupt cancellation of an 11 am meeting of the CLP. Several names did the rounds over the next several hours and Randhawa appeared to be the clear frontrunner for a while. Earlier, Congress veteran Ambika Soni told reporters in Delhi that she was offered the post but declined.

Live Blog

charanjit singh channi swearing in, charanjit singh channi oath taking, punjab chief minister, punjab deputy CMs, captain amarinder singh, rahul gandhi, navjot singh sidhu

13:27 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Will take forward Captain's work in Punjab: Charanjit Channi

Captain Amarinder Singh did a lot of good work for the people of Punjab. We will take forward his work: Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi

12:24 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Congress scared of the SAD-BSP alliance in Punjab: Mayawati

I have also come to know through media that the next Punjab assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of a non-Dalit. This means that Congress still does not fully trust the Dalits. Congress is also scared of the SAD-BSP alliance in Punjab: BSP chief Mayawati

12:18 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Mayawati calls Channi's appointment as CM a 'political gimmick'

I congratulate Charanjit Singh Channi on becoming Punjab CM. It would have been better if he had been appointed as CM earlier. Channi's appointment as CM a few months ahead of Punjab assembly elections appears to be a poll gimmick: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati

12:08 (IST)20 Sep 2021
PM Modi congratulates new Punjab CM Chanranjit Singh Channi
11:44 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu congratulate Charanjit Singh Channi
11:32 (IST)20 Sep 2021
OP Soni takes oath as Punjab minister
11:27 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Sukhjinder Randhawa takes oath as minister
11:23 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as Punjab CM

Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as chief minister of Punjab, succeeds Captain Amarinder Singh. 

11:06 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Charanjit Singh Channi to take oath shortly

Charanjit Singh Channi to take oath as Punjab Chief Minister shortly. He met Harish Rawat today and will be meeting Captain Amarinder Singh later in the day.

10:39 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Charanjit Singh Channi to meet Amarinder Singh today
10:00 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Amarinder Singh likely to skip Channi's swearing-in

Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh will not attend Charanjit Channi's oath-taking ceremony, reported News18. 

09:57 (IST)20 Sep 2021
Sunil Jakhar calls Harish Rawat's 'elections will be fought under Sidhu' statement baffling''

"On the swearing-in day of Charanjit Channi as CM, Mr Rawats’s statement that “elections will be fought under Sidhu”,is baffling. It’s likely to undermine CM’s authority but also negate the very ‘raison d’être’ of his selection for this position": Congress leader Sunil Jakhar

Channi, 58, becomes chief minister with less than six month to go before the assembly polls in Punjab. Amarinder Singh was nudged into quitting ostensibly over his "failure" to fulfil the promises made by the party in the 2017 assembly polls. It is not certain that new CM will be able to accomplish the task in the time available to him, observers say. And Navjot Singh Sidhu, recently appointed as the party's state unit president, could still be projected as the CM candidate as the elections near. But Channi's appointment will allow the party to play the Dalit card in the elections. An estimated 30 per cent of the state's population, counting both Sikhs and Hindus, is from that community. Its biggest concentration is in the Doaba region.