Punjab Congress Rift Forces High Command to Weigh Disciplinary Steps

Overview

• Persistent factional clashes inside the Punjab Congress have repeatedly disrupted the party’s 'Har Booth, Congress Mazboot' grassroots drive, with pro-Charanjit Singh Channi supporters raising slogans that broke up local events.
• Bhupesh Baghel said on Wednesday that he will send a detailed report to the high command, warned of 'sleeper cells' inside the unit, and indicated that disciplinary action may follow his findings.
• The current feud traces to the July 1 decision to keep Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as state president while naming Charanjit Singh Channi campaign committee chair, a split that left Channi largely absent from recent programmes and prompted calls from his camp for a bigger role.
• Warring used recent rallies to demand party discipline, attack Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over law-and-order issues, and offer to contest the assembly election personally against Mann to signal his readiness for a direct challenge.
• Party insiders say the central leadership, led by AICC figures including KC Venugopal, is displeased and expected to decide within about two weeks, a move that could alter candidate selection, district panels for tickets, and the Congress’s ability to present a united challenge to AAP in 2027.