Punjab Congress rift widens: Channi camp skips meeting called by Baghel

The internal crisis within the Punjab Congress intensified on Monday as the camp led by former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stayed away from a meeting convened by the party’s Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel, with several leaders from the faction reportedly leaving for New Delhi to seek an audience with the Congress high command.

The latest development came amid visible signs of growing factionalism in the state unit, with senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa publicly backing Channi.

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Randhawa held a meeting with party leaders in Mohali, where Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh and newly appointed Punjab Congress Working President Sangat Singh Gilzian were seen alongside the former Chief Minister, indicating broader support within the organisation.

Photographs and videos from the gathering were shared by both Randhawa and Channi on social media. Describing it as a continuation of the earlier meeting held at his Morinda residence, Channi said the discussions were aimed at strengthening the party.

The meeting was attended by Randhawa, MLAs Barindermeet Singh Pahra, Pargat Singh and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Working President Sangat Singh Gilzian, former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon and several other Congress leaders. The photographs carried the caption, “Unity is Strength.”

In continuation of earlier meeting…

Unity is Strength pic.twitter.com/VfT7vXCYYb

— Charanjit Singh Channi (@CHARANJITCHANNI) July 6, 2026

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was absent from the group photograph. However, Warring later reposted the same image on his social media account with the identical caption, signalling an attempt to project organisational unity despite the ongoing differences.

Responding to questions regarding the meeting, Warring rejected suggestions of any internal split and maintained that senior leaders were holding consultations to chalk out the party’s strategy for the coming months.

He said reports based on unnamed sources should not be treated as authentic and pointed out that several leaders, including Pargat Singh, had already clarified that they were not aligned with any particular faction.

When asked about Channi’s statement describing the Mohali gathering as a continuation of the Morinda meeting, Warring said the earlier meeting had been held at the residence of a senior Congress leader and should not be viewed as an exercise against the party leadership.

He remarked that leaders had visited Channi to congratulate him after he is appointed chairman of the campaign committee and insisted that all such meetings were intended to strengthen the Congress. “It was not some secret meeting. Everyone is working for the party, and all leaders will be seen together in the coming days,” he said.

Meanwhile, Patiala MP Dharamvir Gandhi appealed to Congress leaders to place the interests of democracy, the Constitution, Punjab and the nation above personal ambitions. Without taking names, he said party workers expected sacrifice and restraint from their leaders during a politically challenging period.

The political tensions follow Channi’s earlier meeting with nearly 50 Congress leaders at his residence in Morinda, where he is learnt to have reiterated his demand for a change in the Punjab Congress leadership. At the same time, Warring has been meeting party functionaries across the state to consolidate support.

Former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa, considered close to the Navjot Singh Sidhu camp, has also written an open letter to the Congress high command, urging it to appoint a strong state president.

Against this backdrop, Bhupesh Baghel reached Chandigarh for a five-day organisational visit aimed at addressing the growing differences within the Punjab Congress. During his stay, he is expected to hold separate meetings with Warring, Channi and other senior leaders as the party leadership attempts to contain the widening rift and restore organisational cohesion ahead of future electoral challenges.