Kharge, Rahul step in as Punjab Congress rift deepens

The grand-old-party held a marathon meeting with its Punjab leadership on Thursday for nearly three hours at its president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, at 10, Rajaji Marg.

Besides Kharge, the party top brass also included Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.

Senior party leader and CWC member from Punjab, Ambika Soni; AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab affairs Bhupesh Baghel; PPCC chief Amrinder Raja Warring; CLP leader Partap Bajwa; former CM and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi; Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Randhawa; and AICC treasurer Vijay Inder Singla, attended the meeting.

Tough stance

In the meeting, the party high command, especially LoP Rahul Gandhi, was upset over Jalandhar MP Channi’s recent remarks on Dalit representation in the state unit. Rahul, it appears, adopted a tough stance during the meeting and asked the state leadership to end the internal strife.

Also read: Navjot Kaur Sidhu's 'Rs 500 crore CM' claim sparks fresh feud in Punjab Congress

“Rahulji clearly warned that factionalism in the party will not be tolerated at any cost. He also told all the leaders strictly to refrain from making statements against each other in public,” party insiders told The Federal.

The internal discord in the state unit was “thoroughly discussed” and suggestions were also made in the meeting to end it. The high command pointed out that it could affect the party’s performance in the state, scheduled to go to the polls early next year, sources pointed out.

After the meeting, the Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel said a clear message has been sent out to all the leaders that indiscipline will not be tolerated. He said that if any leader had any problem, he could express his views directly to the high command instead of making public statements. Baghel also claimed that the Congress is going to win with a complete majority in Punjab and for now, no change will be made in the structure of the Punjab Congress.

Also, after the meeting, the party general secretary Venugopal briefed reporters stating that there won’t be any leadership change in Punjab, while stating that the unit has been asked to adhere to discipline and to avoid making statements against each other in public. Venugopal made it clear that going to the media and spreading issues on social media will not be tolerated by the party.

He also added that marginalised sections, including Dalits, would be given due representation in the Punjab unit.

Row over Channi’s remarks

The Congress top brass's meeting with the Punjab leadership comes after a row broke out, when former Punjab CM Channi made a statement during the unit’s SC department meeting, at its state unit headquarters in Chandigarh.

Channi had raised questions during the meeting that despite Dalits constituting around 35-38 per cent in Punjab, he wanted to know why all the important posts such as the Pradesh Congress committee chief and LOP in the Punjab assembly, and women's wing president, were all held by upper caste leaders. Following the row, Channi denied having made the statement.

However, a video of his remarks went viral on social media which landed the party in a soup.

CM face for Punjab elections

Of late, tensions have risen in the Punjab’s state unit with Channi positioning himself as the Congress chief ministerial candidate for 2027 elections. However, the Congress top brass has not displayed any enthusiasm in this direction.

Also read: Punjab Congress suspends Navjot Kaur Sidhu for 'Rs 500 crore for CM post' comment

Also, the party’s Punjab in-charge Baghel recently conveyed to the media that Congress will not have a CM face for the party in the Punjab Assembly polls.

The party high command’s lack of enthusiasm in projecting Channi as the CM face stems partly from its 2021 experiment, when the Congress attempted social engineering in its last Punjab government, to broaden its appeal. The party had even gone to the extent of removing its veteran leader Capt Amarinder Singh and elevated Channi as the first-ever Dalit Sikh CM.

The move was seen by political analysts as an attempt to consolidate the large SC vote, which is around 32 per cent in the state, ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.

However, the move failed and Channi himself lost from the two Assembly constituencies (Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur) that he contested from.

The powerful Jat Sikhs

Over the years, the party’s Punjab unit has been dominated by Jat Sikhs.

The community has a major say when it comes to decision-making for ticket distribution and rural strategy. While the party has made conscious efforts since 2021 to reduce over-dependence on this group through Dalit, Hindu, and OBC outreach efforts, the structural realities of Punjab politics including land, rural seats, community mobilisation, giving Jat Sikhs an advantage. And, they continue to be the most influential bloc within the state unit.

Any major shift away from the Jat-Sikh community risks alienating a crucial vote bank in an already weakened party.

Last week, some 35 leaders from the state unit, including six MPs, wrote to the party high command to end the “confusion”, sources confirmed. The Punjab unit wants the party to take all the communities together since the leaders feel that the BJP amid “confusion prevalent in Punjab Congress”, is propping up a Jat-Sikh leadership, the sources added.