In Punjab, Congress looked set to cruise into the 2027 Assembly polls, but now, the party finds itself in chaos. Internal rifts, once hidden, are everywhere. The relationship between former Chief Minister, CWC Member and current Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Pradesh Congress (PPCC) President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has fallen apart. The two are openly at odds now. Their rivalry isn’t just personal – it has split the Congress into camps, each fighting for control and threatening the party’s chances in the next election.
The situation’s gotten so bad that the Congress high command has stepped in. Top leaders from Punjab have been called to Delhi for a meeting with AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. On January 22, all the big names – Channi, Warring, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, senior Congress leader and MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and a few others will sit across from the central leadership. It’s not just a formality. This is crunch time.
Factionalism isn’t new for the Punjab Congress. It hurt them badly in the last election, when Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu’s feud dragged the party down and helped push them out of power. Now, the same script is playing out. This time, Warring and Channi represent two powerful factions. Warring, the younger and more aggressive leader, is trying to energise the party. Channi, a former CM with his own strong base, isn’t backing down. Their rivalry spills into everything – from day-to-day decisions to major rallies.
At a series of “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” rallies organised by Warring, Channi and his supporters were mostly missing, except at one rally where Channi’s attendance was more symbolic than substantive. The message was clear: the split runs deep. Channi isn’t just another leader. As Punjab’s first Dalit Chief Minister, he carries weight and his supporters want him back in the top job. But many within the party fear that putting him forward again could deepen internal divisions and are therefore averse to projecting him as the Chief Ministerial face. Meanwhile, senior leaders such as Partap Singh Bajwa—who views himself as a potential CM candidate given his vast experience and decades-long association with the party—and veteran leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are uneasy with the current state of affairs in Punjab, further intensifying the tension. Instead of pulling together, leaders are building their own camps.
The party feels less like a team and more like a battlefield. Delhi knows what’s going on. Sources say Kharge and Rahul Gandhi haven’t called the January 22 meeting just to listen – they want to lay out a new plan. Instead of naming a single chief ministerial candidate, they’re pushing for collective leadership. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is the general secretary in-charge of Punjab, has already said the party will go into 2027 without a CM face. “They are all our chief ministerial faces,” he said, trying to keep everyone at the table and to avoid a repeat of past infighting.
The problem isn’t just at the top. Factionalism has trickled down to the grassroots. District and block leaders pick sides, backing their chosen patrons instead of working for the party as a whole. This weakens Congress everywhere and makes it tough to take on rivals like AAP and Akali Dal. Analysts warn that if Congress keeps fighting itself, it’ll stumble just like it did in 2022, when infighting turned voters away and cost them power.
Right now, Congress has a chance. The AAP government is under fire for its handling of governance and law and order. If Congress can get its house in order, it could bounce back. But if the infighting keeps up, that chance will disappear fast. The Delhi meeting is supposed to reinforce the idea of collective leadership, push for real organisational fixes and remind everyone what’s at stake.
The central leadership plans to tell Punjab’s leaders to put the party first, not their own ambitions. This January 23 meeting isn’t just another round of talks. It’s a real test. Can Punjab Congress get past its divisions and present a united front or will it stay stuck in old patterns? If Kharge and Rahul Gandhi can pull the party together and give it a clear path forward, Congress could be a real contender in 2027. If not, the infighting might finish them off before the race even starts.
(The author is the Editor of the website www.thenewsgateway.com. Views expressed are personal.)
