How Channi vs Warring takes centre stage in Congress’s key campaign before Punjab polls
Poster wars, rival sloganeering dominate Congress's “Har booth Congress mazboot” campaign, party accuses AAP of 'derailing' it, CM Mann rejects the allegation.
Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi (left), and PPCC leader Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. (Photos: X/@CHARANJITCHANNI, @RajaBrar_INC) The Punjab Congress’s statewide “Har booth Congress mazboot” campaign, launched to strengthen the organisation ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, has seemingly turned into a platform to showcase the party’s internal rivalries.
As the campaign, which began on July 31 in Fatehgarh Sahib, moves from district to district, public displays of internal divisions like poster wars and rival sloganeering have begun to dominate the narrative.
On Tuesday, ahead of the arrival of AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in Ferozepur, walls across the city were plastered with posters targeting Jalandhar MP and ex-CM Charanjit Singh Channi. The posters depicted Channi wearing a white vest with “RSS” written on it and khaki shorts.
The posters carried slogans such as “Channi bhajao, Congress bachao (remove Channi, save Congress)” and “Rahul Gandhiji suno Congress di pukar, Channi nu karo Congress cho bahar (Rahul Gandhi, listen to Congress workers’ plea and expel Channi)”.
The latest episode comes amid questions over Channi’s equation with the party leadership. Last week, Channi was among the Congress MPs absent from Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha on police action on protesting students, drawing criticism within party circles.
The Ferozepur posters came a day after another controversy in Muktsar, where Baghel was portrayed as a British-era officer. Posters reading “go back Baghel” appeared across parts of the town ahead of the Congress programme.
On August 2, when the campaign reached Bathinda, another set of posters carried slogans such as “Raja-Baghel hatao, Congress bachao (remove Raja and Baghel, save Congress)” and “Rahulji suno punjabiyan di pukar, liaao Channi banayiye Congress di Sarkar (Rahul Gandhi, listen to the voice of Punjabis; bring back Channi and form a Congress government)”, reflecting support for the former CM among a section of workers. Similar posters were visible in Muktsar too on Monday.
Ugly scenes played out at the venue of the programme in Fazilka on Tuesday after supporters of Channi and Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubaya were initially denied entry. Though they were later allowed into the venue, the event saw competing slogans being raised by supporters of Warring and Channi.
During the Bathinda programme, a Congress worker repeatedly raised slogans in support of Channi. Instead of stopping him, Warring invited him onto the stage, handed him the microphone and asked him to call the former CM. Channi did not answer despite two attempts, after which Warring remarked that “Channi saab must be busy”, before assuring the worker that he would always remain accessible to party workers.
A similar display of pro-Channi sloganeering was witnessed during the Congress programme in Patiala on August 1.
The public airing of differences has seemingly irked a section of leaders. “Instead of discussing booth committees and election preparedness, the focus has shifted to internal conflicts. The Congress is trying to fight factionalism rather than concentrating on the objective of strengthening itself in every booth,” said a senior party functionary.
‘AAP derailing campaign’
The Congress leadership has blamed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for attempting to derail its campaign.
Addressing workers in Muktsar on Monday, Baghel said no such disruptions had taken place during the first leg of the campaign in Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali. “Once the government realised that Congress programmes were drawing huge crowds, they started planting their people in our meetings to create disturbances,” he alleged.
Baghel praised Warring’s leadership, recalling that Gandhi had entrusted him with the responsibility of reviving the Punjab Congress after it was reduced from 80 Assembly seats to 18 in the 2022 elections. He said Warring was facing challenges not only from political opponents but also from within the organisation.
The Congress, he said, had to fight not only the BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), AAP and Waris Punjab De, but also “sleeper cells” within the party, echoing Gandhi’s earlier warning about leaders allegedly working against the organisation.
Warring too referred to the pressures he was facing. “Everyone is after my life — Akalis, BJP, the broom and even some of our own,” he said, adding that his only “fault” was being entrusted with leading the party after its worst electoral defeat in 2022.
Without naming Channi, Warring reminded workers that then CM Channi, former CM Captain Amarinder Singh and several other senior leaders had lost the 2022 Assembly elections, while the people of Gidderbaha had elected him. “I can never forget that,” he said.
He also defended the raising of slogans in Channi’s favour. “Are these slogans in favour of Pakistan?” he asked, asserting that Channi remained a respected senior leader, a former CM and chairman of the party’s campaign committee.
Rivals react
The developments have drawn reactions from rivals.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dismissed the Congress’s allegations, saying the party was unable to manage its own factionalism and was unnecessarily blaming the AAP government.
Punjab BJP media co-incharge Pritpal Singh Baliawal questioned the Congress’ contradictory messaging. “If some Congress workers are putting up “go back Baghel” posters while others are portraying Channi as an RSS volunteer, it shows the confusion within the Congress itself,” he said.
Baliawal also questioned why the Congress had not expelled Channi if it had serious differences with him, and referred to Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon’s statement that the party’s doors remained open for “good politicians”.
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