Chandigarh: Gearing up for the 2027 assembly elections, the Punjab Congress will hold a meeting of its newly constituted election committees in New Delhi on Tuesday.The meeting assumes significance as it will bring together the party’s top state leadership for the first time since the recent organisational tussle over the continuation of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.The meeting, convened by Punjab affairs in charge Bhupesh Baghel, will be held at the Congress headquarters, and will be attended by PPCC chief Warring, campaign committee chairman and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, manifesto committee chairman Dr Amar Singh, election management and coordination committee chairman Vijay Inder Singla, core committee chairman and former deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, besides other members of the committees.The meeting comes nearly three weeks after the Congress announced its election committees on July 1. The meeting is politically significant as it follows weeks of internal dissent within the Punjab Congress after the party high command decided to retain Warring as the PPCC president. A group of senior party functionaries led by former CM Channi was demanding Warring’s removal, arguing that a change in the state leadership was necessary to restore organisational unity and improve the party’s prospects in the 2027 assembly elections. However, the dissident camp has recently softened its public stance, saying its objective was to place its concerns before the party leadership rather than embarrass anyone.During his recent visit to Punjab, Baghel held separate meetings with the dissident leaders, who reiterated their demand for a change in the state leadership. Baghel assured them that their concerns would be conveyed to the party high command. He later met Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in New Delhi and submitted his assessment of the situation, following which some of the dissenting functionaries were called to the national capital for discussions.After meeting Venugopal, Channi emphasised that the dissident camp had no intention of embarrassing or belittling anyone in the party. He said the leaders had presented their views before the party leadership and remained committed to strengthening the Congress organisation. MSID:: 132513026 413 |
