Today’s meeting between Bhupesh Baghel and the leaders considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi turned into much more than a routine political discussion, while no formal decision was announced, the developments before, during and after the meeting revealed the depth of the leadership battle inside the Punjab Congress.
The meeting was organised at the residence of Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh in Chandigarh, officially, the purpose was to allow Bhupesh Baghel, the AICC general secretary and Punjab affairs in-charge, to hear the views of leaders unhappy with recent organisational decisions, but throughout the day, every political move carried its own message.
The first major development came even before the meeting started and according to sources, the Congress high command had expected Charanjit Singh Channi to meet Bhupesh Baghel along with only two or three senior leaders, instead, around 80 leaders from the Channi camp reached the venue and later, more than 90 leaders reportedly participated in the discussions and this large gathering was widely seen as a show of organisational strength by the Channi camp.
Several senior leaders attended the meeting, including Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Partap Singh Bajwa and several MLAs and former legislators, while Bhupesh Baghel reached the venue around 12.15 pm, nearly one hour and fifteen minutes after the scheduled time and the meeting continued for around two hours behind closed doors.
Before entering the venue, Channi avoided making direct comments about the outcome. However, he repeated his now widely discussed remark, saying, "Tel dekhenge, tel ki dhaar dekhenge," indicating that the situation would become clear only after discussions.
Inside the meeting, leaders openly shared their concerns before Baghel and according to sources present during the discussions, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa demanded that the Congress high command review its decision regarding the recent leadership appointments in Punjab, while former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi reportedly told the gathering that Raja Warring should resign as Punjab Congress president in the larger interest of the party. MLA Pargat Singh is learnt to have said that leaders should spend less time giving interviews and more time working to save the Congress organisation in Punjab while senior MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa reportedly argued that the Congress needed a strong leader who speaks boldly and said the party did not need a compromised leader or someone who weakens the organisation.
Sources also said that before the meeting the Channi camp had raised another important demand and they argued that if Channi was not being made the Punjab Congress president, then he should at least be officially declared the party's Chief Ministerial face for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, leaders supporting this demand believed that workers across Punjab could seek votes more effectively if the party projected Channi as its CM candidate.
Another important political signal was visible in the guest list as Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was not invited to the meeting, earlier, leaders from the Channi camp had made it clear that the meeting was specifically meant to discuss whether Warring's leadership was acceptable to them and before the meeting, Warring himself said he would not attend, he explained that the Punjab affairs in-charge functions as a mediator and some discussions are better held separately and according to him, the very fact that such a meeting was taking place reflected unity within the Congress.
After listening to every leader, Bhupesh Baghel assured the gathering that all concerns would be placed before the Congress high command and he also said that capable candidates would receive election tickets and that no one should suffer because they lacked support from influential leaders however, while Baghel publicly stated that nobody had objected to the high command's decision, leaders who attended the meeting maintained that a clear message had been delivered against Raja Warring's continuation as Punjab Congress president.
At almost the same time, another political message surfaced online as former Congress MLA Kulbir Singh Zira, who is considered a supporter of Raja Warring, shared a photograph on social media carrying the caption that there may be many jackals and other animals in the jungle, but there is only one lion, and even when alone, he rules the forest and the timing of the post drew attention because it came while the Channi camp was holding its meeting with Baghel, though Zira did not name anyone directly, the post was widely viewed as a show of support for Raja Warring.
Another noticeable point was what did not happen after the meeting as while several leaders addressed the media, Charanjit Singh Channi himself did not make any public statement after the discussions ended but before entering the meeting, he had hinted that the outcome would determine the next course of action and his silence after the meeting has become another point of discussion within political circles, though no official reason was given.