InDepth | Why Congress' Rift in Punjab Refuses to Heal?

Across several states, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Haryana, the Congress has struggled to manage competing regional leaders after key organisational appointments. The Punjab Congress appears to be following the same pattern. The party had hoped that its two-day strategy meeting in New Delhi last week would finally rein in the factionalism in the state unit. The meeting was held after Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel submitted his assessment of the political situation to the central leadership.

Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, senior leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and other key figures from the state unit were invited for the discussions chaired by Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal and Baghel. According to sources, Channi openly challenged Warring’s leadership during the meeting and threatened to resign as chairman of the party’s campaign committee. He reportedly told Baghel that the Congress could not hope to defeat the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2027 Assembly election under Warring’s leadership. Warring, in turn, reportedly offered to step down if his continuation as state president had become an obstacle to party unity.

Venugopal backed Warring, bringing the immediate confrontation to an end, but not the political crisis. He reminded everyone that Warring had been appointed by the party high command and would continue in that role. The next Assembly election, he said, would be fought under Warring’s organisational leadership. For the Congress leadership, the confrontation in Delhi was the culmination of months of growing dissatisfaction within the Punjab unit. According to many senior Congress leaders, the roots of the current conflict lie in the party’s own internal consultation process. In June, the Congress high command appointed a panel comprising senior leaders Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Yadav to assess the political situation in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. The panel consulted district presidents, legislators, former legislators and other senior leaders before submitting its report to the central leadership. Over 80 per cent of those consulted reportedly favoured replacing Warring as Punjab Congress president before the election. “The demand for a leadership change did not come only from Channi’s supporters,” says a senior Punjab Congress leader. “Even leaders who were not aligned with Channi felt the party needed a new state president.”

According to party sources, Maken’s report concluded that the Congress had a realistic chance of returning to power in Punjab if it addressed concerns over the state leadership. The high command, however, reached a different conclusion. On July 1, the Congress announced that Warring would continue as Punjab Congress president, while Channi would head the party’s campaign committee. “We respect the high command,” says a senior Punjab Congress leader. “But what confuses many workers is that the party goes through an elaborate consultation process and seeks feedback from leaders on the ground, only to take a decision that appears to contradict the findings.” According to him, that disconnect lies at the heart of the continuing unrest.

The leadership retained Warring to preserve organisational continuity, while elevating Channi as chairman of the campaign committee in an attempt to acknowledge his political stature. On paper, the arrangement divided responsibilities between organisation and campaigning. In practice, however, it created overlapping centres of authority. Questions over who will shape the campaign narrative, influence candidate selection and emerge as the party’s principal face in the 2027 election remain unresolved. Those ambiguities continue to fuel the rivalry.

Why Rahul Gandhi Stayed With Warring

According to Congress leaders familiar with the discussions, Rahul and the party leadership concluded that replacing Warring barely two years before the Assembly election would create fresh instability in a state where the Congress is trying to project itself as the principal challenger to the AAP government.

Unlike Channi, whose appeal is rooted in his image as a mass leader, Warring is viewed by the central leadership as an organisational man who stayed back after the Congress’ crushing defeat in the 2022 Assembly election and rebuilt the party machinery.

“Another factor that may have hurt Channi’s standing with the central leadership is that after the Congress lost power in Punjab, he largely disappeared from the political scene for almost a year,” says a senior Congress leader at the party headquarters. “Warring, on the other hand, stayed in Punjab and worked to rebuild the organisation.”

According to party insiders, the leadership was also influenced by caste arithmetic. Replacing Warring, a Jatt Sikh, with Channi, Punjab’s first Dalit chief minister, could have complicated the Congress’ social coalition at a time when the AAP is led by Bhagwant Mann, another top Jatt Sikh leader.

“The argument made before Rahul was that replacing Warring with Channi could consolidate sections of the Jatt Sikh vote behind Bhagwant Mann,” says a senior Congress leader. “The Congress cannot afford to weaken its support among a community that has historically dominated Punjab politics.”

Jatt Sikhs account for nearly a quarter of Punjab’s population and have traditionally exercised disproportionate political influence. Every major political party has sought to retain their support while expanding its appeal among Dalits, who constitute nearly one-third of the state’s population.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) recent organisational changes have only complicated the equation. The party recently appointed former Congressman Kewal Dhillon, a Jatt Sikh, as the president of its Punjab unit, replacing Sunil Jakhar, a Jat Hindu.

“The BJP has signalled that it wants to broaden its appeal among Sikhs,” says a Congress MP who supports Warring. “In that situation, replacing Warring with Channi would could have been interpreted as the Congress conceding the Jatt Sikh leadership space.” On July 1, the Congress announced that Warring would continue as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, while Channi would serve as chairman of the party’s campaign committee. “Rahul Gandhi told Channi that he should lead the campaign and that if the Congress returned to power, he would be among the leading contenders for the chief minister’s post,” says a senior Congress leader. “But Channi was not prepared to accept that formula.”

Why the Congress Cannot Afford to Lose Channi

Channi is the most prominent Dalit face of the Congress party in Punjab. That explains why, despite repeated disagreements with the high command, the leadership has sought to accommodate him. A senior Congress leader in Delhi says that the leadership remains conscious of changing political currents among Punjab’s Dalit voters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Sant Niranjan Das of Dera Sachkhand Ballan during his visits to Punjab have heightened concerns within the Congress that its traditional Dalit support base could gradually shift towards rival parties. “The leadership does not want to sideline Channi because it understands his political importance,” says a senior leader. “Marginalising him entirely could accelerate that shift.” For the Congress, Channi remains one of the party’s most recognisable campaigners. “His appeal extends beyond Dalit voters,” says another senior Congress leader. “He also enjoys the confidence of influential Jatt Sikh leaders such as Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Rana Gurjeet Singh. That gives him political weight that cannot simply be ignored.”

According to party sources, the leadership has also assured Channi that he will play a central role in candidate selection for the Assembly election.

Baghel calls the developments in the state unit healthy internal competition rather than an organised revolt against the leadership. “There were minor disagreements, not factionalism,” says Warring, stressing that the Punjab Congress is united and working towards one objective: to bring the party back to power in the state.

Why Punjab Matters

Unlike several other states where the Congress has become electorally marginal, Punjab remains one of the few large states where the party believes it has a realistic opportunity to return to power. The Congress swept the 2017 Assembly election, winning 77 of the state’s 117 seats. Five years later, it suffered a stunning defeat, securing just 18 seats as the AAP stormed to power with 92. Despite that collapse, the Congress remains the principal opposition party in Punjab. Anti-incumbency against the AAP government makes many Congress leaders believe that the 2027 Assembly election offers an opportunity for a comeback. This optimism explains why the leadership is anxious to prevent an open split. Unlike the Amarinder Singh rebellion in 2021, which unfolded while the Congress was in power, the present conflict comes while the party is in the Opposition. There is no chief minister’s chair at stake. Instead, the contest is about who will lead the party’s revival.

Managing, Not Resolving the Crisis

Political commentator and author Rasheed Kidwai believes the Congress leadership has contained the crisis without addressing its underlying causes. “The high command has managed to avoid an immediate split,” says Kidwai. “But it has not resolved the fundamental disagreement over leadership.” According to Kidwai, the repeated interventions by the high command, its decision to retain Warring despite opposition within sections of the state unit and its simultaneous efforts to accommodate Channi indicate that the party is managing a delicate political balance. For now, that balancing act appears to have prevented an organisational rupture. Whether it can sustain the party through the next Assembly election is another question.

Mohammad Ali is senior associate editor with Outlook

(This story appeared in Outlook magazine’s August 17 issue, 'Parliament on Street', which takes an incisive look at the student protests against recurring examination paper leaks, the zing of Gen-Z politics and the Jantar Mantar protest at Delhi which triggered a strong response all across India, sending out a clear reminder that while governments are formed in Parliament, democracies remain alive on the streets)