Sunil Jakhar may be 1st Hindu CM of Punjab since reorganisation

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, September 18

On May 11, 2019, Capt Amarinder Singh had prophesied that then Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar would one day go on to become the Chief Minister because of his “political farsightedness and vision”.

Capt Amarinder was addressing a rally in Sarna in favour of Jakhar, who was the Congress candidate for the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. Jakhar was locked in a stiff contest with BJP’s Sunny Deol. Residents claim Capt Amarinder’s premonition had come as a bolt from the blue for many in the 5,000-strong gathering.

If the prediction comes true, Jakhar may become the first-ever Hindu CM after states were reorganised in 1966. His father Balram Jakhar remained Speaker of Parliament twice from 1980 till 1989.

Pathankot councillor Nitin Laddi Mahajan said he remembered Amarinder’s 20-minute extempore. “After calling Deol a failed actor, Amarinder said Jakhar was the future CM,” Mahajan said.