Infighting, discontent against Warring within Punjab Congress: Bhupesh Baghel tests waters but offers no change

Sources in Congress said that a host of leaders from both camps, those opposing Warring and the ones favouring him, met Baghel on Saturday and Sunday and presented their views. These included former chief ministers Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and Charanjit Singh Channi, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former PCC president Shamsher Singh Dullo, former MLA Kushaldeep Singh ‘Kiki’ Dhillon, MLAs Rana Gurjeet Singh (Kapurthala), Pargat Singh (Jalandhar), former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh, and former ministers Vijay Inder Singla and Bharat Bhushan Ashu among others.

A senior leader told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity that the meeting appears to have been called to listen to the view of the senior leadership after the recent electoral loss in Ludhiana and the blatant infighting which preceded it. Rana Gurjeet Singh is learnt to have prepared a special report regarding the byelection and the reasons behind the loss, as he was thickly involved in the campaign.

Questions were also raised in the meeting regarding collusion of certain former ministers with AAP government and citing that the legal action pursued against them was on a ‘go slow’ mode. Action was also sought against those who managed the byelection in Ludhiana and kept senior leaders away from it.

“There appears to be a move afoot to get Warring removed as the PCC president but from what I perceived, the party high command is not in favour of such a move at this time,” said another leader who did not want to be identified.

Another Congress leader said that he was asked to recommend names of PCC office bearers for an overhaul and that he in turn asked if the party state chief was being changed. “I was told that no change was in offing,” he said.

Significantly the meeting has been held at a time when Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa is on a tour to Australia.

Sources said that a middle path has been considered given the infighting and that a senior leader has been offered the position of chairperson of campaign committee for the 2027 elections.

“With at least two more byelections soon, the party needs to get its act together lest the public perception of infighting causes damage it did in the 2022 Assembly polls,” said a senior leader.

The Congress in Punjab continues to face significant internal conflicts in recent times, characterized by factionalism, public spats, and leadership struggles, which have weakened the party’s cohesion and electoral prospects.

The Congress’s defeat in the Ludhiana West byelection intensified tensions. Former MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu criticized Warring for not campaigning actively and dismissed Simarjit Singh Bains as a “non-Congressman,” exposing deep factional divides.

In May this year reports indicated that the high command, guided by Baghel, was considering replacing the PCC president to strengthen the party ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Rival factions led by leaders like Channi, Warring, Bajwa, and others are vying for control, with disagreements over candidate selection and strategy.

The high command’s interventions, such as backing Navjot Singh Sidhu in 2021 or pushing for a leadership change have often exacerbated tensions.