Punjab Congress MP Randhawa flips on Raja Warring: ‘Who asked for change?’

“Who said that the PCC should be changed? Neither I said it, nor Channi Sahib, nor any senior leader. Those who demanded it, ask them,” the Gurdaspur MP told reporters after meeting Pilot in Delhi Wednesday.

Randhawa’s demand

However, Randhawa has on several occasions referred to a “compromised leader” who was allegedly “hand in glove with the AAP government”.

On July 11, he made the same comments while speaking to reporters at Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh’s residence in Chandigarh. What he said in the meeting in the presence of Bhupesh Baghel about Warring was more direct and pointed.

On August 28, he repeated his comments about a “compromised leader” at the Rakhar Punya meeting organised by former Baba Bakala MLA Santokh Singh Bhalaipur. Channi, Randhawa, Rana Gurjeet Singh, and others from that camp also spoke but said nothing about Warring.

Channi’s stand

Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had also opposed Warring’s continuation as PCC president, as he disregarded Baghel and held the first “war council” meeting with party leaders to discuss the issue.

His stance now appears more conciliatory. Channi has described Pilot as a “good leader” and said people in Punjab like him. He also said a “new hope” had emerged among party workers.

On the question of the PCC president, Channi said the decision was “not in our hands” and that the party would accept whatever the high command decides.

Party insiders point out that Randhawa is AICC in-charge of Rajasthan and Pilot, a Rajasthan leader, is now in-charge of Punjab. They are, in effect, each other’s boss, they said.

On his part, Warring has now welcomed Pilot’s “energy and dynamism” with the calm of a man who still has the letterhead.

The rest of the party unit is toeing the official new line that there was never a rift, only a “productive dialogue,” and anyone who remembers the July rebellion is requested to remember it more softly.

As Rahul Gandhi’s Punjab visit approaches, the message from Delhi is clear: the leadership has changed hands, and the debate over who takes the front seat must stop. Randhawa, for his part, appears to have fallen in line.

Whether this is unity or a temporary ceasefire will be tested when Gandhi tours Punjab later this month.