Congress High Command Unlikely to Replace Raja Warring as Punjab Chief Despite Internal Dissent

Amid growing factionalism within the Punjab Congress, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has reportedly refrained from meeting former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. According to sources, Channi's request for an appointment with Gandhi has not yet received approval. The development comes at a time when Charanjit Singh Channi and senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa held an important meeting with AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala in New Delhi on Thursday afternoon. The meeting took place ahead of the next round of discussions by the party leadership aimed at resolving the ongoing internal conflict within the Punjab unit. Despite the continuing internal rebellion, sources said the Congress high command is not in favour of replacing Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. The decision indicates that the party intends to continue with the existing state leadership ahead of the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections. Later in the day, another meeting of senior Punjab Congress leaders was held at the party headquarters, Indira Bhawan, under the chairmanship of Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal. The meeting was attended by Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Pargat Singh, and other senior leaders. According to sources, Channi told K.C. Venugopal that Raja Warring had failed to keep the party united and warned that retaining him as the state unit president for the Assembly elections could further worsen the situation. However, sources maintained that there would be no change in the state leadership and that Raja Warring would continue as the Punjab Congress president, while discussions between the Channi camp and Venugopal remain ongoing. Sources further stated that Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and AICC Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel have made it clear that replacing the state president under pressure would send the wrong political message. The party leadership is also taking into account the existing social and caste balance within the Punjab Congress, with Raja Warring representing the Jat Sikh community and Charanjit Singh Channi being one of the party's prominent Dalit faces. As the Congress intensifies its preparations for the Punjab Assembly elections, the leadership is attempting to contain the internal discord while maintaining its position that organisational decisions will not be made under pressure from any faction.