As the Kaypee family, staunch supporters of the party for nearly six decades, parted ways with the Congress, a rivalry has emerged between relatives by marriage, namely Charanjit Singh Channi and Mohinder Singh Kaypee, on the political turf of Jalandhar.
Mohinder Singh Kaypee, a former minister and MP who also served as the Pradesh Congress Committee President, has joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and is now a candidate from Jalandhar. Kaypee’s departure from the Congress not only deals a blow to the party but also poses a personal challenge for former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Jalandhar, Charanjit Singh Channi.
It’s noteworthy that Kaypee and Channi are also related through marriage; Kaypee’s daughter is married to Channi’s nephew. Historically, both the Chaudhary family and subsequently the Kaypee family had been strong allies with Indira Gandhi for nearly seven decades, especially in Jalandhar, where the former Prime Minister wielded considerable influence.
Master Gurbanta Singh led three generations of the Chaudhary family, while Kaypee led two generations of the Kaypee family, advocating for the marginalized. After failing to secure a Lok Sabha ticket this time, Chaudhary Santokh Singh’s wife, Karamjeet Kaur, joined the BJP, and Mohinder Singh Kaypee moved to the SAD.
Meanwhile, Sushil Kumar Rinku, a rising leader for the marginalized community, initially joined the AAP and later shifted to the BJP.
There has been longstanding tension between Kaypee and the state party leadership. Kaypee was also denied a ticket by the party in the 2022 assembly elections. Moreover, there was confusion over Kaypee’s constituency as the party initially decided to field him from Adampur.
On the last day of nominations, Kaypee visited the Returning Officer’s office but did not receive the party’s ticket. Instead, the ticket was granted to Sukhwinder Kotli, who recently switched from the Congress to the BSP. Since then, Kaypee has been conspicuously absent from Congress meetings.
With the exit of the Chaudhary and Kaypee families from the Congress, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi faces a challenge on Dalit turf. This challenge is intensified by the fact that BJP candidate Sushil Rinku, who also left the Congress for the BJP, is competing for the same voter base.
Notably, Jalandhar has the highest Dalit population, constituting 40% of its total population.