Being targeted as I'm Dalit: Minister

As Opposition parties demanded the sacking Charanjit Singh Channi for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a woman officer, the Punjab minister said Tuesday he was being targeted as he raised issues concerning the Dalits in the state.

Channi, who had been accused by the woman official some weeks back, was speaking to the media for the first time after he returned from abroad.

Trying to play down the mater, the minister said he had sent the message to the woman by "mistake".

"I am always been respectful to woman... There are two private secretaries in my office, three block presidents in my constituencies who are women and I have always called them with respect," he said, adding that the woman had accepted his apology.

The matter was over after that, he said, blaming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of raking up the issue. "I am being targeted as I am a Dalit and have been raising issues concerning the Dalits in the state."