Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Friday ruled himself out of the chief ministerial race, saying he was willing to sacrifice anything to ensure the party returns to power in the state after the next assembly elections.
Event Context
Pannu also challenged Warring to first announce candidates for all the assembly constituencies before making claims about AAP.
Player Focus
Warring also claimed that 40 to 50 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs were waiting to leave the party but were holding back to avoid disruption of development work in their constituencies and alleged harassment. The ruling AAP later dismissed the claim as “fabricated”.
“While the media is playing up the differences of opinion within the Congress, it is ignoring the recent defection of AAP MPs,” Warring said, referring to seven AAP Rajya Sabha members switching over to the BJP recently.
Later speaking at a separate event in Mohali, Baghel reiterated that the Congress has resolved its leadership issues in Punjab and that Warring would continue as the Punjab state chief.
The internal tussle comes at a point when Congress is trying to recover from its worst-ever performance in the 2022 state assembly elections, when it was reduced to just 18 seats in the 117-member assembly with a vote share of 22.98%, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept to power by winning 92 seats. The setback came in sharp contrast to the 2017 assembly elections, when the party secured a decisive mandate by winning 77 seats and ending the decade-long Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government, while restricting the AAP to just 20 seats.
Set your house in order: AAP
Team Analysis
Discontent within the state unit surfaced after the party retained Warring as its Punjab unit president, while appointing Channi as chairperson of its campaign committee. Channi was reportedly unhappy with the decision, although the party leaders maintained that there was no rift, only differences of opinion.
Baghel’s week-long visit to Punjab in early July, during which he held a series of meetings with rival camps, failed to end the simmering discontent. After submitting his report to the party high command, senior leaders attended a two-day meeting in New Delhi and publicly pledged to work together. However, speculation over factionalism resurfaced when Channi, Bajwa, Randhawa and senior leader Rana Gurjit Singh visited protesting sanitation workers in Barnala together, while Warring arrived separately later in the evening with local leaders.
Chandigarh The Aam Aadmi Party launched a sharp attack on Warring, alleging that his claim about AAP MLAs being in touch with him was an attempt to divert attention from the Congress’ infighting and leadership crisis. Addressing a press conference, AAP Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu rejected Warring’s claim as “fabricated”. He alleged that Congress leaders were engaged in power struggles instead of raising public issues, and that their statements and social media posts reflected deep divisions within the party. Questioning the credibility of the Congress leadership, Pannu alleged that the party had failed to prevent several of its senior leaders from joining the BJP, citing former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and former Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Match Outlook
Addressing the workers at the launch of the party’s ‘Har Booth Mazboot’ campaign to strengthen its grassroots organisation, Warring said the Congress had lost nearly two months because of this “internal discord.” “I am not a contender for the chief minister’s post. I only want the Congress to form the next government in Punjab,” Warring said in the presence of Congress general secretary in-charge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel. Warring also sought to play down speculation over internal differences, reiterating his loyalty to the party.
He also named the senior leaders in the state unit, including Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and former CM and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi, saying they “were more capable” than him. Channi, Randhawa and Bajwa skipped the Fatehgarh Sahib event.
“There is no factionalism in the state unit. It is merely an issue created by the media and a few individuals. The Punjab polls will be fought under collective leadership and the Congress has only one face in Punjab, and that is Rahul Gandhi,” Baghel said.
Baghel described the upcoming assembly elections as a decisive battle for Punjab and accused both the BJP-led Centre and the AAP government in the state of practising vendetta politics. He urged booth-level workers to strengthen the party organisation, saying electoral victories are built from the grassroots.
