The rumblings within the Congress continue -- from Punjab to Kerala

The Congress has faced similar challenges across the country, including Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, where it is in power. Here is all you need to know about the troubles the Congress faces

Former lawmaker AV Gopinathan quit the Congress on Monday amid growing rumblings within the party in Kerala. The Congress has faced similar challenges across the country, including Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, where it is in power. Here is all you need to know about the troubles the Congress faces:

Representational Image. (File photo)

Kerala

Gopinathan quit the party amid infighting over the selection of 14 district Congress Committee chiefs in Kerala. He said he has lost faith in the party leadership and that there was no point in remaining with Congress. Gopinathan had been upset over the denial of a ticket for contesting the assembly elections in March. But he was placated with the promise of a party post. Hours after Gopinathan quit the party, another functionary, PS Prasanth, was expelled. Prasanth’s expulsion came after he wrote to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the party workers have doubts about general secretary KC Venugopal’s actions. Prasanth insinuated that Venugopal was working in collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He said the party has been destroyed in states such as Goa, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh that Venugopal has been in charge of. On Sunday, two Congress leaders K Sivadasan Nair and AP Anil Kumar were suspended for criticising the party.

Punjab

Chief minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu remain at loggerheads even as the latter was appointed as the Punjab Congress chief to end the infighting within the party. Sidhu has urged the party leadership to give him freedom in decision-making and insisted he does not want to be a dummy party chief. He has been critical of the chief minister for not delivering on the promises made in the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections.

Chhattisgarh

Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel appeared to have gained the advantage in the tussle for the top post in Chhattisgarh after a meeting with the Congress top brass on Friday. He invited Rahul Gandhi to visit the state after meeting him for the second time in three days. Baghel and his rival, state health minister TS Singh Deo, earlier held long meetings with Gandhi. Baghel later flew back to Raipur, organised a show of strength, and met loyalists. Ahead of Friday’s meeting, at least 45 of the party’s 70 lawmakers also flew to the Capital. The meetings came amid a reported two-and-a-half-year power-sharing agreement between Baghel and Deo. The conflict between Baghel and Deo stems from the agreement reached in December 2018 when Congress swept to power in Chhattisgarh by winning 68 of the 90 assembly seats.

Rajasthan

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan is yet to fulfil the promises made to Sachin Pilot after he rebelled against chief minister Ashok Gehlot last year. The party has faced bigger troubles in Punjab and Chhattisgarh. Pilot’s loyalists are likely to be accommodated in the Cabinet while he is expected to be assigned a plum position in the Congress organisation

Karnataka

Infighting has emerged within the party over the chief ministerial candidate for the 2023 assembly polls. DK Shivakumar, the state Congress chief, and former chief minister Siddharamiah in June were involved in a war of words on the probable Congress’s chief ministerial candidate.