Congress vs Congress in Punjab ahead of polls as leadership change ruffles feathers

AN intragroup united states congress venire cover had backed a convert in the party’s leadership in poll-bound Punjab after talking to current and former legislators and other leaders, many of whom favoured former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, but the high command chose to stick to current state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, HT has learnt.At least three party insiders confirmed the findings of the panel — comprising Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Jatav — that was set up on June 11 with the objective of getting a “report on the current political scenario in Punjab”.The committee spoke to a cross-section of leaders, including legislators, former legislators, district members and other officebearers, and submitted its report in 10 days, said the leaders cited above. The report — which has not been made public — said the Congress could win the upcoming Punjab assembly polls but might need a change of guard in the state leadership, added the leaders cited above.But on July 1, the party announced its decision to stick with Warring, the MP from Ludhiana, as state unit chief, and Partap Singh Bajwa as leader of the Opposition. Another contender, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Channi, currently the MP from Jalandhar, were made chairs of two of the new election-related committees announced by the party high command.The announcement triggered discontent with the Congress, with Channi and Randhawa mobilising supporters and refusing to welcome the appointments in public.Neither Maken nor any of the party’s spokespersons responded to HT’s queries.The party’s Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel spent six days trying to quell the discontent and submitted a report to the high command on Wednesday. “I visited Punjab for six days where I met the leaders and heard all of them, including at the Punjab Congress office and during one-on-one meetings. After meeting everyone and having discussions with leaders of Punjab, I have submitted my report to AICC general secretary, organisation, KC Venugopal,” Baghel said on Wednesday.After the submission of the report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi acknowledged the findings and suggested that Channi should be made campaign chief and if Congress wins, he will be the party’s dalit CM choice, said the leaders cited above. There is also a view in some sections in the party that a Dalit CM candidate may not be acceptable to other influential communities like Jatt Sikhs.The crisis is a re-run of the turmoil in the party ahead of the 2022 assembly elections when the Congress spent months dithering on a leadership call after the ouster of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, appointed Channi, then propped up Navjot Singh Sidhu, only to make the decision too late and suffer its worst defeat in decades.An earlier report by the party’s election strategist Sunil Kanugolu had also favoured a leadership change in Punjab, said the leaders cited above. Kanugolu was not available for a comment.Party insiders said Channi, who replaced Amarinder Singh in 2021, was largely absent from the state after the 2022 drubbing for almost a year.Warring, who worked on building the party organisation after the 2022 loss, is seen as a loyal leader but his detractors within the party allege that he has not been very hard on the AAP government and also faces old graft allegations.On Thursday, party’s general secretary Randeep Surjewala was tasked with talking to Channi, whose followers have already demanded that the (AICC) reconsider its recent organisational appointments, particularly the decision to keep Warring.Channi met the party leadership in Delhi on Thursday. “All is well. We are committed to the party; we will follow the party line,” he said.“Several leaders were called here today, and we have presented our point of view. However, one thing is absolutely clear: we stand with the party. We respect the party high command. Rahul Gandhi is our leader; we love him. All our workers and leaders stand firmly with the party and will continue to do so,” he added.There was no immediate response from Warring.