After finishing his tour, Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has given a huge shock to the rebel group in Punjab and completely rejected their demand. The camp wanted former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as the party’s CM face for 2027 Assembly elections in the state.
However, Baghel said no straight away. He posted on X that the party has only one face in Punjab, and that is Rahul Gandhi.
This is the second big blow for the internal rebel camp within a few days. Before this, they wanted to remove the state party president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Baghel rejected that demand too. He stated that the local voters have no doubts in their minds. Just like the parliamentary polls, Punjab voters are trusting Rahul Gandhi again. So, he remains the only face for the upcoming state elections, Baghel noted.
Seeing this tough stand from Baghel, those unhappy in the party are now changing their route. They are bypassing the local team to talk directly with the high command. The rebel leaders are planning to reach Delhi soon. They want to present their side before Baghel submits his official report to the top leadership.
Sources have said that Charanjit Singh Channi and senior leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are already contacting leaders in Delhi for a meeting. A senior coordinator has assured them that a meeting with Rahul Gandhi will happen. The Channi group claims that Baghel’s six-day tour was not fair. They have alleged that he only met people close to Warring and ignored the actual ground reality and complaints of workers.
Internal fighting is not a new thing for the Punjab Congress. Captain Amarinder Singh controlled the state unit for a long time. In 2021, Navjot Singh Sidhu started a campaign against Captain. Many leaders joined Sidhu, and the high command removed Captain from the CM post. However, the party chose Channi for the top job instead of Sidhu. Now, the same internal war is starting again over Warring’s leadership.