Is everything well within Congress?
Most of the senior Congress leaders in Punjab, when asked this question, try to brush it under the carpet and make two claims.
The first is that the talk of infighting is the handiwork of parties opposed to Congress because the party is in a position to challenge all other political forces and is set to come to power, as people have made up their minds to bring it back to power in the state.
The second claim is that it is a creation of the media. Some leaders do not even hesitate to ask media persons to refrain from presenting Congress in a bad light.
Political commentators, not associated with either of the camps led by the then PPCC President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, were of the view that the then Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel was not as balanced as an in-charge should be.
The Congress top leadership, in a way, put its stamp on these observations. It apparently sensed that a change was necessary and, in a highly unusual move, sidelined Baghel before removing Raja Warring and brought in Sachin Pilot as the new in-charge of Punjab.
Raja Warring tried his best to save the coveted position, but his opponents did not relent. The Congress high command had to take a decision and, instead of naming Channi, who was leading the move, chose former Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh as the next PPCC chief to quell the dissidence.
With Sachin Pilot and Pargat Singh in the saddle, enthusiasm returned to Congress camps, with many believing that the changes would work, as both Channi and Warring, besides other senior leaders, welcomed the appointment of Sachin Pilot as in-charge and Pargat Singh as the new PPCC chief.
Warring even asked his supporters to attend all meetings convened by Pargat Singh and obey every directive of the new president, thereby giving the impression that he had welcomed the change ‘heartily’.
However, while Pargat Singh, as PPCC chief, announced the ‘Punjab Mangda Insaaf Yatra’, under which Congress leaders would tour Punjab in a bus, Channi announced a parallel programme named the ‘Jawani Sambhal Cycle Yatra’.
The two programmes may be described as part of a common Congress campaign, but can they really be considered one coordinated exercise? If that were the case, why would the party launch two separate programmes, led by different leaders, within the same time frame, potentially confusing its leaders, workers and the people of Punjab? This is precisely why they appear to be parallel programmes.
The ‘Punjab Mangda Insaaf Yatra’, launched by Punjab Congress from Chandigarh, was attended by PPCC President Pargat Singh, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and other senior leaders, except Charanjit Singh Channi and Raja Warring.
Channi’s ‘Jawani Sambhal Cycle Yatra’, flagged off on November 12 from Chamkaur Sahib — a constituency that elected him and helped him rise to the office of a minister and then Chief Minister, but did not favour him in the 2022 elections — was attended by PPCC President Pargat Singh, LoP Partap Singh Bajwa and other senior leaders, except Raja Warring.
Raja Warring’s no-show at the launch of Channi’s ‘Jawani Sambhal Yatra’ at Chamkaur Sahib became a point of discussion, as Sachin Pilot and several other senior leaders were present in good numbers.
Those who attended included LoP Partap Singh Bajwa, MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, MP Dr Amar Singh and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Another flashpoint came on the second day of Channi’s cycle rally when it entered Ludhiana. Not only Raja Warring, but most of the leaders owing allegiance to him, remained absent and neither welcomed nor participated in the cycle rally.
While a photograph of a dinner held a day earlier in Ludhiana makes one believe that Warring was there on November 12 with his group of leaders, another social media post by Warring indicated that he was at his Chandigarh residence on November 13, reading Sonia Gandhi’s new book.
The prominent leaders who reportedly stood by Raja Warring and stayed away from Channi’s cycle yatra in their home turf included former MLAs Capt Sandeep Sandhu, Surinder Dawar, Rakesh Pandey, Kuldip Singh Vaid, Simarjit Singh Bains, Balwinder Singh Bains and Congress District President Sanjay Talwar.
It is apparent that although several changes have taken place within Congress and everyone thought that the internal war was over, it turns out that the only thing that has changed is the title of the war within Congress.
What was earlier Channi versus Warring has now turned into Warring versus Channi. That’s all.
The war is not over yet, and it seems that even Pilot has not been able to iron out the differences to the desired extent.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, sharing the stage with Sachin Pilot and Pargat Singh at Chamkaur Sahib, said, without naming Warring, that a leader should be someone who takes everyone along — an apparent reference to Raja Warring.
Though it is being said that Congress is an ocean and that ‘badi badi partiyon mein, chhoti chhoti baatein chalti hi rehti hain’, the harsh reality is that infighting within Congress is far from over.
One argument being advanced to present things differently is that all programmes launched by Congress leaders will spread the party’s message and that all such programmes are Congress programmes. But no one can deny that parallel programmes are being planned in an attempt to demonstrate supremacy and remain relevant as top leaders.
This should be a cause for concern for Congress.
The AAP is not as weak as it is being portrayed, the BJP-SAD alliance seems to be on the verge of being finalised, and there is also Waris Punjab De, which could demonstrate its strength, if not in all constituencies, then at least in some of them.
The war actually never ends and may never end, but it must at least appear to have been resolved.
Expecting Warring to forget what Channi and others did to him is expecting too much. He will strike back, politically, whenever he finds an opportunity. Not sharing the stage with Channi could well be one form of political retaliation.
Bringing Warring and Channi onto the same page could be a humongous task, even for the Congress high command.
However, there is another point to ponder for those who think Warring is finished or has lost.
No, he has not.
The way he conducted himself during the crisis, despite facing opposition, and his decision to step down to pave the way for a resolution of the Punjab Congress crisis, have earned him a special place in the eyes of the Congress high command and ‘his leader’ Rahul Gandhi.
Will Congress let things continue the way they are going?
That’s for the Congress high command to decide.
The latest developments are enough to send a message to party workers and the people of Punjab that the claims of ‘all is well’ or a ‘unified Congress’ remain an illusion, at least for now.
Workers put in hard work when the leadership stands united, and votes pour in when people have clarity about a party.
November 14, 2026
HS Bawa can be contacted at editoryespunjab@gmail.com
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