"Education, healthcare will be totally free": Channi promises welfare model with anti-corruption reforms ahead of Punjab polls

Chandigarh(Punjab)[India], August 20 (ANI): Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday said the party will bring reforms under which "the government official is unable to practice corruption" and will implement a welfare model with "totally free" education and healthcare for the middle class and the poor.
Speaking in Chandigarh, Channi said he had been away from active politics for 4.5 years, during which he conducted research and studies.
"I have been away from politics for 4.5 years, during which I conducted research and studies, and now we will bring such reforms under which the government official is unable to practice corruption. The middle class and the poor can yield better benefits in this welfare state... Education and healthcare will be totally free. We are going to provide such a model to the state and implement it if the Congress government comes to power," he told reporters.'
On his absence from the recent Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi, Channi said he had informed the party leadership in advance.
"I wrote to the High Command that I don't want to miss my examination for a meeting that takes place every month," he said.
Channi's ties with the Congress leadership have turned into a careful "on-and-off" relationship, marked by deliberate distance at times and selective visibility at others.
Channi was absent from the Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi, attributing his non-attendance to his Master's examination in Public Administration at Panjab University.
The comments come amid a leadership tussle within the Punjab Congress as the party prepares for the 2027 Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, political parties including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal have begun preparations for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
The AAP had won the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls with a significant majority, forming its first government in the border state and ending the Congress' tenure in power. (ANI)