The much-awaited meeting between AICC general secretary and Punjab affairs in-charge Bhupesh Baghel and the Punjab Congress leaders considered close to former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi ended on Saturday without any immediate decision on the leadership issue however, the meeting clearly showed that differences within the Punjab Congress continue even as the party prepares for the 2027 Assembly elections.
The meeting took place at the residence of Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh in Chandigarh and around 92 leaders attended the discussions, according to party sources, before the meeting began, nearly 45 leaders had already reached the venue and were waiting for Baghel, who arrived around 12.15 pm, about one hour and fifteen minutes later than the scheduled time.
Before entering the meeting, Charanjit Singh Channi gave a brief but significant statement and he said, "Tel dekhenge, tel ki dhaar dekhenge" and he also said that all issues would be discussed inside the meeting and reminded reporters that everyone already knew his stand.
The meeting came after days of political tension inside the Punjab Congress and on July 1, the Congress high command decided to retain Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the Punjab Congress president and appointed Channi as chairman of the campaign committee, since then, several leaders close to Channi had openly expressed disappointment with the decision.
Host Rana Gurjeet Singh also said that all leaders who had contested the previous Assembly elections had been invited so they could place their views before Baghel and also targeted the AAP government over raids at his business establishments, saying the timing of the action matched the gathering of Congress leaders at his residence.
Inside the meeting, leaders from the Channi camp reportedly raised several concerns regarding the party's present leadership in Punjab and according to sources, most speakers supported the demand that Raja Warring should be replaced as the state Congress president, they reportedly gave examples of how they believed divisions had grown among party leaders under the present leadership.
Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is learnt to have told the meeting that Raja Warring should resign from the post of Punjab Congress president in the larger interest of the party while Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa reportedly asked the party high command to review its recent leadership decision, MLA Pargat Singh is learnt to have said that instead of giving interviews, leaders should focus on saving the Congress party, while senior leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also strongly argued that the Congress needed a leader who could speak boldly and according to people present in the meeting, Randhawa said the party did not need a compromised leader and that it should not have a president who weakens the Congress organisation.
Before the meeting, leaders from the Channi camp had also maintained that if Channi was not made the Punjab Congress president, then he should at least be declared the party's Chief Ministerial face for the 2027 Assembly elections so that workers could campaign in his name across the state, while former minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar had said before the meeting that the main purpose of the discussions was to decide whether Raja Warring's leadership was acceptable to them.
After hearing all the leaders, Bhupesh Baghel addressed the media. He said Rana Gurjit Singh had invited him as a senior leader and that he had spoken to all his colleagues during the meeting and said every leader expressed his views and raised certain issues however, he maintained that no one had objected to the decision taken by the Congress high command. He said he had assured all colleagues that, as Punjab in-charge, he would protect everyone's interests.
Baghel also said that no leader should suffer because they did not have the backing of a powerful person inside the party and according to him, any candidate who had the ability to win elections would certainly receive a party ticket, he also added that all issues raised during the meeting would be conveyed to the Congress high command in his report, but most importantly, Baghel denied that there had been any discussion about replacing Raja Warring as the Punjab Congress president and also said that no one was upset over the leadership issue.