Ludhiana, Aug 6 (PTI) The internal rift within the Punjab Congress seems to show no signs of abating with an organisational meeting, convened here on Thursday to take stock of the party’s preparations for the 2027 assembly elections, witnessing protests and “go back” slogans against senior leaders Bhupesh Baghel and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
Both Congress’s Punjab in-charge Baghel and the party’s state president Warring attended the meeting at the Guru Nanak Bhawan.
Some people wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “Baghel Go Back” were spotted at the event venue and they raised slogans against both Baghel and Warring, alleging that the party leadership was disregarding internal dissent.
The situation escalated when Warring allegedly referred to the protesting members as “RSS workers” during his address, prompting renewed sloganeering and a brief scuffle between his supporters and allegedly those of former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
The disruption undermined the party’s efforts to project unity and once again brought the Punjab Congress’s internal divisions into public focus.
Punjab Congress has been struggling with factionalism, despite repeated assertions by the party leadership that efforts are underway to strengthen organisational unity ahead of the 2027 Punjab elections.
The infighting came to the fore when the Congress leadership on July 1 announced its decision to retain Warring as the state unit chief and appoint former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as the chairperson of its campaign committee.
A section of leaders led by Channi opposed the move to retain Warring as the Punjab Congress president and sought his removal from the position.
Baghel and Warring have been visiting various districts during the past few days as part of the party’s “Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ programme”.
At such an event in Ferozepur on Tuesday, Warring made it categorically clear that there will be no tickets for those working in “sleeper cells” within the party to benefit the rivals.
He said, while the tickets will be allocated by the high command, he will ensure that no one from these sleeper cells got a ticket.
“Loyalty to the Congress is non-negotiable,” he asserted. PTI COR SUN ZMN ZMN
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