An internal Congress committee report had backed a change in party leadership in the poll-bound state of Punjab after speaking with current and former legislators and other leaders, many of whom favored former Prime Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, but the top leadership chose to stick with the state’s current unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Waring, HT has learnt.
At least three party insiders confirmed the findings of the committee — comprising Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Jatav — which was formed on June 11 with the aim 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 officials, and submitted its report within 10 days, the above-mentioned leaders said. The report – which has not been made public – said the Congress party may win the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, but it may need a change in the state’s leadership, the leaders mentioned above added.
But on July 1, the party announced its decision to retain Waring, MP from Ludhiana, as state unit president, and Partap Singh Bajwa as leader of the opposition. Another contender, Gurdaspur MP Sukhinder Singh Randhawa, and Chani, the incumbent MP from Jalandhar, have been appointed chairmen of two new election-related committees announced by the party high command.
This announcement upset Congress, where Chaney and Randhawa rallied supporters and refused to publicly welcome the appointments.
Neither McCain nor any of the party’s spokespersons responded to Hizb ut-Tahrir’s inquiries.
Bhupesh Baghel, the party’s Punjab official, 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 from all of them, including in the Punjab Congress office and during individual meetings. After meeting everyone and having discussions with the leaders of Punjab, I submitted my report to AICC Secretary General KC Venugopal,” Baghel said on Wednesday.
After submitting the report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi acknowledged the results and suggested that Channi would become the campaign chief and if the Congress wins, he would be the party’s Dalit prime minister’s choice, the above-mentioned leaders said. There is also a view in some sections of the party that the Dalit CM candidate may not be acceptable to other influential communities like the Jatt Sikhs.
The crisis is a repeat of the turmoil the party witnessed ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections when the Congress spent months hesitating over whether to call for leadership after ousting former Prime Minister Amarinder Singh, appointing Chani, and then backing Navjot Singh Sidhu, only to take the decision too late and suffer its worst defeat in decades.
The above-mentioned leaders said that an earlier report prepared by the party’s election strategist Sunil Kanugulu also favored a change in leadership in Punjab. Kanogolo was not available for comment.
Party insiders said Channi, who replaced Amarinder Singh in 2021, was largely absent from the state after the 2022 defeat for about a year.
Waring, who worked to build the party organization after the 2022 loss, is seen as a loyal leader but his critics within the party claim he has not been too tough on the AAP government and is also facing old corruption allegations.
On Thursday, the party’s general secretary, Randeep Surjewala, was tasked with speaking to Channey, whose followers have already demanded that the AICC reconsider its recent organizational appointments, especially the decision to retain Waring.
Chani met the party leadership in Delhi on Thursday. “Everything is fine. We are committed to the party, and we will follow the party line,” he said.
“Several leaders have been called here today, and we have given 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 Waring.
