Congress high command decides to remove Raja Warring as Punjab chief - The Indian Express

The Congress high command has finally decided to change the state Congress president in Punjab and appoint a new person in place of Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. It is learnt that the Congress leadership in Delhi has conveyed its decision to Warring.

While sources in Congress confirmed that the party will be getting a new chief in Punjab just a few months ahead of the assembly polls, there is widespread speculation on the new appointee. The appointment of a new PCC chief will draw curtains on a four month old tussle between the Warring camp and those demanding his removal.

This latest development follows Punjab affairs in-charge Sachin Pilot’s organisational feedback after he replaced Bhupesh Baghel earlier this month. Sources said more than 50 interactions with leaders and district functionaries fed into a report discussed with Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal. Warring is expected to be called to Delhi, and an announcement could come anytime soon.

This is the second major leadership debate of the year for the Congress in Punjab. In June and July, party observers Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Jatav assessed the unit. While the majority favoured former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the high command instead retained Warring, made Channi campaign committee chair, and distributed other roles to Vijay Inder Singla, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amar Singh in an attempt to balance factions and communities.

The compromise did not end the tussle. Channi’s camp, including sitting and former MLAs, publicly pressed for a change and Pilot’s appointment was widely read as an effort to reset mediation.

The names of possible successor of Warring include Vijay Inder Singla, former minister and AICC secretary from the Malwa belt, frequently cited as a Hindu face who could head the organisation without being treated as the automatic chief ministerial candidate.

The name of Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurdaspur MP and a Jat Sikh has also been circulating along with Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, Jalandhar MLA Pargat Singh, and Raja Sansi MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria.

“Apart from Rahul Gandhi, nobody knows who the new appointee will be. He has been given a panel of names with the relevant strengths and weaknesses and the final choice will be his,” a senior Congress leader who did not want to be named said.

Caste and regional arithmetic dominate the rumours. Punjab’s Congress has long been pulled between Jat Sikh leadership, Dalit representation and a Hindu organisational face in a state where Hindus are about 38 per cent of the population and Malwa holds the bulk of Assembly seats.

Appointing a Hindu PCC chief, some Congress leaders argue, would let Sikh leaders keep CM ambitions open and avoid repeating the 2022 pattern in which the state president was seen as the presumptive CM. Others warn that dropping a Jat Sikh chief could alienate a core bloc, especially after the BJP named a Jat Sikh state president.

“It is high time the leadership tangle was sorted out and a viable name selected. We have very less time left to get into poll mode and the cadre is getting restless. Ideally this issue should have been taken care of when the Maken Committee gave its report but even if it has been delayed it must not get delayed further,” said a leader from Doaba.