Chandigarh: Supporters of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday stepped up their social media campaign amid the Punjab Congress leadership crisis, with several party functionaries sharing posts carrying the slogan “Saara Punjab Channi De Naal”, even as Punjab affairs in-charge Bhupesh Baghel submitted his report on the state unit to the Congress high command.Several Congress functionaries, including Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Brinder Dhillon, Smit Singh Maan and Isherpreet Singh Sidhu, shared photographs with Channi carrying the slogan on their social media accounts.The campaign coincided with Baghel’s meeting with Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in New Delhi, where he submitted a report on the six-day consultation process he held with Punjab Congress functionaries.“I met all the leaders at the Punjab Congress Committee office, besides holding one-on-one interactions. I also met leaders over breakfast, lunch and dinner. After detailed deliberations, I have submitted my report to Venugopal,” Baghel told reporters.Dismissing suggestions of any immediate change in the party’s stand on the Punjab leadership, Baghel said such decisions were not “gudda-guddi ka khel” (child’s play).The meeting came a day after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Venugopal reviewed the Punjab situation in New Delhi. Party sources said the high command was continuing consultations with senior Punjab functionaries before deciding its next course of action.The leadership crisis escalated after the Congress on July 1 retained Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president while appointing Channi chairman of the campaign committee. The Channi-led faction has since maintained that a change in the state leadership is necessary to restore organisational unity, a demand it reiterated during Baghel’s recent visit to Punjab.Punjab Congress working president Raj Kumar Verka, who also met the central leadership in New Delhi, said all viewpoints on the leadership dispute had been conveyed to the high command. “Everyone has the right to put forward their views within the party. All the feedback has been taken by the high command. Ultimately, we are all with the Congress and will abide by the directions of Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal,” Verka said.
