File photo: Congress MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring
NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday indicated it was not in favour of leadership change in the Punjab unit, rebuffing a section of functionaries who have demanded that Amarinder Raja Warring be removed from the post of state president.AICC Punjab in charge Bhupesh Baghel, responding to queries about change, repeated his earlier remark, “yeh gudde gudiya ka khel nahin hai (this is not a child’s play).” He met Congress general secretary K C Venugopal who is said to have conveyed to him the party brass’ stance on the Punjab issue. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal held a discussion on poll-bound states including Punjab Tuesday.Congress is wary of going back on the appointments it issued recently, in which party named former CM Charanjit Channi as chairperson of the campaign committee while reiterating that Warring would continue as the state chief – which triggered a backlash from state functionaries including Lok Sabha MPs Channi and Sukhjinder Randhawa.Now, all eyes are on the Parliament session starting Monday. As Channi and Randhawa will come to Lok Sabha, Congress brass is likely to meet them informally, without inviting fresh attention. With Punjab polls slated for early 2027, the dissidence has put Congress in a catch-22 situation. While rescinding the AICC order on Warring could encourage similar arm-twisting in other states, sticking to it threatens to leave a big chunk of the state unit unhappy. Insiders said a please-all decision is not possible, but the party can try to persuade the dissidents with assurances.The 2022 experience is haunting the party. The removal of Amarinder Singh as chief minister, replaced by Channi, had increased the dissidence. Then Punjab state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and campaign chief Sunil Jakhar targeted the party and Channi from inside, which tanked the Congress’s poll campaign.
