New Delhi, June 18
In what can only be described as a brazen act of “indiscipline” and outright “defiance” of the AICC’s top brass—including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge—the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has virtually “revolted”. More than half a dozen leaders from Punjab have ‘flatly rejected’ the organizational posts offered to them, openly challenging the authority of the high command and laying bare deep fissures within the state unit.
According to the sources in the AICC, no leader is ready to budge, completely undermining the authority of Rahul and Kharge. Highly placed sources told The News Gateway that a few leaders have even threatened to ‘tender their resignations’ in case the party high command does not agree to their demand. The gross “indiscipline” has not only put the entire AICC leadership in an embarrassing situation but has also “diminished” the chances of the Grand Old Party (GOB) coming to power in the 2027 elections. At the same time, such “brazen misconduct” clearly reflects that Punjab Congress leaders give ‘two hoots’ to Rahul and Kharge.
Volatile political developments are erupting from New Delhi, exposing the stark reality that the Congress high command seems to have lost its grip over its Punjab unit. Notably, the same “disastrous blunder” was committed by the “Delhi Durbar” during the 2022 Assembly polls, when the AICC recklessly replaced Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh and PPCC president Sunil Jakhar. What was dressed up as strategy proved to be ‘political suicide’—fracturing the party, eroding its credibility and paving the way for its humiliating collapse.
Now, learning no lessons from the past, five years down the line the Congress finds itself trapped in the same quagmire. Things are back to square one, with the leadership displaying no spine to take decisive and firm calls. Paralysed by indecision, the party has once again squandered its moment. Given the present political scenario, the Congress has gravely diminished its chances of forming the next government—repeating history as a tragedy and a farce rolled into one.
Meanwhile, the three‑member panel—Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Jatav—tasked with assessing the political crisis in Punjab had already held one‑on‑one interactions with a string of senior Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, CWC member Vijay Inder Singla, former PPCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, former Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and veteran Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Yet, despite marathon consultations, the panel has also “utterly collapsed” in its mission, failing to stitch together even a semblance of consensus. The outcome is stark: endless meetings, zero resolution and a glaring admission that the Congress high command seems to have lost the reins of its Punjab unit.
