Punjab Congress in Turmoil: Channi Demands PCC Chief Post, Randhawa Meets Shah

The recent reshuffle in the Punjab Congress unit has caused fresh unrest, with former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi convening a meeting of party leaders and supporters on Friday to press the high command to appoint him president of the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC).

Mr. Channi, the Lok Sabha member from Jalandhar and a Dalit, met his loyalists at his residence in Morinda, about 30 km from Chandigarh. The meeting was seen as a show of strength to convey his displeasure over the party's recent decisions.

Meanwhile, in Delhi, senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur Lok Sabha member Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Mr. Randhawa maintained that the meeting was solely to discuss Punjab's deteriorating law and order situation, but it added to speculation about internal turmoil within the state unit.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) had announced several election-related committees for Punjab on Wednesday, appointing Mr. Channi as chairperson of the Campaign Committee but retaining Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as PCC president. Sources indicated that this decision had upset Mr. Channi, prompting Friday's meeting to express his grievances.

"We have no issues with the high command, but we do have some objections. We want the leadership to hear our grievances and resolve them so that the Congress party comes to power," said sitting MLA Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa. Sharing a video of Mr. Bajwa's remarks on X, Mr. Channi posted that party leadership had called on him and urged him to present the sentiments of the people before the high command.

Among those present at the meeting were former Deputy Chief Minister O.P. Soni, former Ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, former MP Mohd. Sadiq, and several former MLAs.

Mr. Randhawa, who has been appointed chairperson of the Core Committee in Punjab, said his meeting with the Home Minister was a follow-up to a letter he had written to the Prime Minister on law and order issues, including gangsters, extortion, and Pakistan-sponsored narco-terrorism in border districts.

Addressing the disquiet within the party, Mr. Randhawa said that only AICC observer Ajay Maken could explain the basis of the report submitted to the high command on changes in the state unit. "It certainly hurts when all this is happening after a list comes out. I have the habit of speaking out the truth, and I don't know what it means," he said. "The situation is not as bad as you think. But it is a matter to ponder that it should not have come to this. It is unfortunate that after so many meetings, people are still not satisfied."

Earlier, senior leader Manish Tewari had been left out of all election-related committees, prompting him to remark that he did not have an "antidote to individual and institutional insecurities."