Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel on Monday met senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in the national capital to discuss the Leader of Opposition’s proposed visit to the state and preparations for a special bus tour.
“I met both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi; the main topic was the bus journey planned for Punjab. I wanted to seek permission for the tour, specifically regarding the journey Rahul Gandhi is to undertake. They granted me time and asked me to submit a proposal outlining the schedule, after which they will finalise the timing. Not this week; it is going to be a major tour. Since it will cover the entire state of Punjab, it will take some time,” Baghel said after the meeting.
A senior party leader said that all Punjab Congress leaders will also participate in this yatra. “The proposed tour is expected to take Rahul through different parts of the state, with the Congress seeking to strengthen its organisational and political outreach ahead of the assembly polls,” he said.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of an intensifying factional tussle in the state unit. Discontent surfaced soon after the party high command on July 1 retained Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the state unit chief and appointed Jalandhar MP and former CM Charanjit Singh Channi as the chairperson of its campaign committee. A group of leaders, led by Channi, opposed the move and sought Warring’s removal. Channi’s supporters have also been seeking his projection as the party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly polls.
{{/usCountry}}The meeting comes against the backdrop of an intensifying factional tussle in the state unit. Discontent surfaced soon after the party high command on July 1 retained Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the state unit chief and appointed Jalandhar MP and former CM Charanjit Singh Channi as the chairperson of its campaign committee. A group of leaders, led by Channi, opposed the move and sought Warring’s removal. Channi’s supporters have also been seeking his projection as the party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly polls.
{{/usCountry}}The party’s ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ grassroots outreach campaign from July 31 to August 8 also saw an open display of infighting, with supporters of the former chief minister raising slogans in his favour and verbal clashes between Channi and Warring supporters at several meetings. The high command has since rallied behind Warring. Baghel has also repeatedly reiterated that the party will not project any chief ministerial face in Punjab for the polls.
The simmering feud threatens to derail the Congress’ preparations for the state polls, especially when it 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 the AAP was restricted to just 20 seats.