The Punjab Congress is likely to get a new chief, with a formal announcement expected soon along with key assignments to party heavyweights.
The development came after the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday held one-on-one meetings with five senior Punjab Congress leaders — state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Vijay Inder Singla at 10, Janpath, the residence of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
It is learnt that the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, is likely to continue in his existing role. “The state unit is likely to get a new chief. All other heavyweights representing different castes and regions are being adjusted either as working presidents or being assigned key panels such as the coordination, campaign and manifesto committees,” said a senior party leader privy to the development. Randhawa, Channi, Bajwa and Singla are in the race for the state party president’s post.
Signalling key changes in the state unit, Rahul is learnt to have conveyed a clear message to the heavyweights that the party must enter the electoral battle as a united force. The leaders were categorically told that personal ambitions must take a back seat to the larger objective of safeguarding Punjab’s interests and returning the Congress to power. The leaders, in turn, shared their views on the party’s organisational structure, leadership issues and the strategy required for the electoral contest ahead.
Sunday’s meetings assume significance as the Congress had recently appointed senior leaders Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan and Bhajan Lal Jatav as AICC observers to assess the political landscape in Punjab, who submitted their recommendations to the party leadership on Saturday. The recommendations are understood to have formed part of the consultations held by Rahul with the state’s senior leadership.
The meetings come at a time when the Congress high command is reviewing the political situation in Punjab and weighing organisational changes ahead of the poll, scheduled for early next year.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bajwa indicated that he had placed his views before the leadership but made it clear that the final decision rested with Rahul. He said Congress leaders would stand by whatever decision the party leadership took, irrespective of positions or responsibilities assigned to them.
Bajwa also stressed that Congress workers and leaders remained committed to the party and its leadership, adding that their political commitment had always been guided by Punjab’s interests and the country’s unity and integrity.
Warring also sought to project a picture of unity within the state unit, dismissing suggestions of internal differences. He said the discussion focused on the issues the Congress would fight the elections on and the strategy needed to take on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.
Asserting that the party was united, Warring expressed the confidence that the Congress would defeat the AAP government in Punjab. Drawing a comparison with Delhi, he claimed the ruling party would face a similar political setback in Punjab.
