Soon after being chosen as the new Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi has started allowing his son to attend official meetings, raising eyebrows. The CM allowed his son to sit in the room where an official meeting was being held in the presence of the DGP and other senior officials of Punjab on Thursday. This triggered a controversy in Punjab with pictures from the meeting showing Rhythmjit Singh, Charanjit Singh’s son, in the meeting held at the DGP office were circulated on social media.
According to experts, the presence of any member of the family of CM in an official meeting violates the Rules of Business of the state government. According to sources, it may also violate the Official Secrets Act supposed to protect the sensitive issues discussed during such meetings. Experts also said, “This is an unusual practice and not expected from a person holding such a high position. The bureaucrats posted to the CMO should have informed him about this. The presence of an unauthorised or a private person at such meetings is against the interest of the state. It is also against the oath taken by the CM.”
BJP Punjab President Ashwani Sharma called the incident unprecedented and unethical. He said “It is unfortunate that senior bureaucrats, well aware of rules and norms, allowed this error to happen,”
It is important to note that within 4 days of being the new Punjab Chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi was summoned to Delhi two times to form a “consensus” cabinet, indicating that the Congress high command does not want to delegate powers to its Punjab unit or allow local leadership to take control.
Also, upon the formation of the new Punjab cabinet under Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress leader in charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat said, “Those who could not be made ministers today will be accommodated in government setup and organisation. This exercise has been done to bring in young faces and strike a social and regional balance.”
