The internal rift in the Punjab Congress has intensified following the party's recent organisational overhaul, with former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi emerging as one of the key dissenting voices against the reshuffle.
Despite speculation over a leadership change, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was retained as the Punjab Congress president, a decision that has further widened the divide within the state unit.
In a significant show of dissent, the Channi-Randhawa camp has decided to stay away from all Punjab Congress programmes where Raja Warring is present in his capacity as the state party chief. The move is being seen as an open expression of displeasure over the high command's decision to continue with the existing leadership.
Sources said the Channi-Randhawa faction has also escalated the matter to the Congress high command. Former Punjab minister and MLA Pargat Singh, along with several other legislators, has left for Delhi to convey the group's concerns directly to the party leadership.
Baghel’s truce attempt fails
The development comes despite senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel's recent visit to Chandigarh, where he held meetings in an attempt to defuse tensions and bring warring factions together after the organisational rejig.
However, the decision by the Channi-Randhawa camp to bypass state-level mediation and directly approach the party's central leadership is being viewed as a major escalation in the ongoing rebellion.
MLA Bains dismisses rift talk
Former Ludhiana MLA Simranjit Singh Bains has rejected speculation about divisions within the Punjab Congress, saying the party's senior leadership remains united. He claimed that Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and the Congress high command would soon be seen together, sending a clear message of unity.
Speaking to reporters, Bains said the media was viewing the Congress through a "lens of division". He insisted that there was no reason to question the party's unity and maintained that its leaders were working together despite recent speculation.
Randhawa shares group photo of leaders, Warring missing
The remarks came after Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa shared a group photograph on social media platform X that featured several state unit leaders. Along with the picture, Randhawa wrote, "Unity is strength."
The photograph included several prominent Punjab Congress leaders, including Manifesto Committee Co-Chairman and MLA Pargat Singh, Election Committee Co-Chairpersons Razia Sultana and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, among others. Soon afterwards, Channi also shared the same picture on his X account with the identical caption.
However, the absence of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and MLA Sukhpal Khaira from the photograph attracted attention and fuelled fresh discussion over possible differences within the state unit.
The speculation eased shortly afterwards when the official Punjab Congress X account posted the same photograph with the caption "Unity is Strength". Warring also shared the image on his personal account using the same message.
