While he has been the Chief Minister of Punjab for the past month, this is Charanjit Singh Channi’s first opportunity to meet Prime Minister Modi.
Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and is expected to request that the Centre withdraw the letter postponing the state’s paddy procurement until October 1.
Mr. Channi will meet PM Modi for the first time after being sworn in as Punjab chief minister earlier this month.
Despite the ongoing turmoil in the Congress’ Punjab unit, Mr. Channi is expected to meet senior leaders in the national capital during his visit, according to sources.
Chief Minister Channi will meet with Prime Minister Modi, according to a senior Punjab government official. According to sources, Channi intends to urge the Centre to begin procuring paddy in the state immediately during his meeting with Modi.
Due to a letter from the Centre, it was announced on Thursday that Punjab’s paddy procurement would be postponed until October 1. The first of October has traditionally marked the start of paddy procurement.
According to a government statement issued on Thursday, Mr. Channi requested the prime minister’s personal intervention in advising the relevant ministry to withdraw its letter as soon as possible, allowing the government to begin paddy procurement on October 1 rather than October 11.
The government has delayed the purchase of Kharif paddy in Punjab and Haryana until October 11 due to recent heavy rains that have delayed crop maturity. The Food Corporation of India, a nodal agency of the central government, collaborates with state agencies to procure crops.
In addition to Charanjit Singh Channi, his party’s senior leadership is expected to meet with him in Delhi. The coordination panel is expected to be consulted before the Punjab government makes any major decisions in the future.
Mr Channi and the party’s former state chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, met for two hours on Thursday at the Punjab Congress Bhavan before deciding to form the panel.
The panel is said to include Navjot Singh Sidhu, the chief minister and a member of the All India Congress Committee.
Mr Sidhu said on Wednesday that the DGP, the state’s advocate general, and other “tainted” leaders had been named. According to sources, Sidhu supported the appointment of senior IPS officer Siddharth Chattopadhyay as DGP.
The Punjab government has submitted a list of ten candidates to the Union Public Service Commission for consideration as permanent director general of police candidates. According to sources, current DGP Dinkar Gupta and Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota are among the suspects.
Mr. Sahota was promoted to Punjab’s new DGP position after Dinkar Gupta, the previous DGP, took a leave of absence.
After traveling from Patiala, Mr. Sidhu met Mr Channi in Chandigarh on Thursday. Mr Channi had contacted him the day before and offered to assist him in resolving the issue through dialogue.
He accused the new DGP of wrongfully indicting two Sikh youths in a desecration case while clearing the Badals, and he went after Mr. Sahota just before their meeting with the chief minister.
