There are barely eight months left for the assembly elections in the state and there is a rift in the Punjab Pradesh Congress. The rift that has started between former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party president Amarinder Singh Raja Wadding is not going to stop. It is also interesting that both these Congress leaders in Punjab are close to Rahul Gandhi. Raja Wading comes from Jat Sikh community and Channi comes from Dalit Sikh community. Considering that Punjab has the highest population of Dalits, Rahul Gandhi made him the Chief Minister in September 2021 in place of Captain Amarinder Singh. But in the 2022 assembly elections, Congress’s fate was such that not only did it lose the assembly elections, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi himself lost the elections from both his assembly seats – Chamkaur and Bhadaur. Aam Aadmi Party won both these seats.
Because of King Vading, there is disgrace
Two years later, in 2024, Charanjit Singh Channi won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat by two and a half lakh votes. This increased Channi’s status within the Congress. But Channi is now unable to digest the name of Amarinder Singh Raja Wadding as the President of Punjab Congress. Channi himself wants to become the state Congress president. Now Punjab Congress is being humiliated due to the tug of war between these two leaders. Both these leaders are close to Rahul Gandhi, that is why no one is saying anything. The Congress high command wants to keep Amarinder Singh Raja Wadding as the state Congress President. But Charanjit Singh Channi and about 50 of his supporters have rebelled. On the other hand, Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tiwari has also come out against Raja Wadding. Therefore, indirectly, they are also fueling Channi’s resentment.
Channi’s rebellion was fueled by Manish Tiwari
Congress is in a relatively strong position in Punjab, North India. It is true that Congress lost badly from here in the 2022 elections, but the anger that has increased among the people of the state and Akal Takht regarding the Bhagwant Mann of Aam Aadmi Party, Congress can cash in on it. But if the squabbling within the Congress is not calmed down soon, the situation may turn upside down. BJP cannot form government on its own in Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal is now powerless. In such a situation, hope is from Congress only. The Congress high command should stop this split as soon as possible. These three leaders have roots in Punjab and have a large number of their supporters. Manish Tiwari is an old leader of Punjab Congress. Many times MP. He feels that the party has excluded him from all its committees. That’s why they are dissatisfied.
Demand to make Channi the president intensifies
Although the Congress party high command had formed several election committees in view of the 2027 assembly elections, this strategy of the Congress fell on them. He had made Charanjit Singh Channi the chairman of the election campaign committee. The command of the core committee was handed over to Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa and Vijay Inder Singla was made responsible for election management. But this increased the head space. On Friday, Charanjit Singh Channi called a meeting at his house in Chamkaur in protest against Raja Wadding in which 65 leaders attended. Of these, five are sitting MLAs and 15 were also former MLAs. This was a message to the high command to remove Raja Vading from the post of State Congress President. All these leaders insisted that only Channi would be suitable for the 2027 elections.
Channi’s threat to the high command
After the meeting was over, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa clearly said that he had no objection to the Congress high command. But the Congress high command should reconsider its decisions regarding the president. 50 supporters of Channi unanimously talked about removing Raja Vading from the post of State Congress President. Everyone was insisting that this post should be handed over to Channi. But Channi said, this post should be given to someone other than Raja Vading, otherwise his supporters will sit at home. In a way, he has given a direct threat to the high command. As of today, power in Punjab is very close to Congress but factionalism within Congress will remove it from power. Now Rahul Gandhi himself will have to take the initiative and listen to someone close to him. On one side Dalit leader Channi and on the other side Amarinder Singh Raja Vading of Jat Sikh community.
It is not easy to overcome Modi-Shah’s election strategy
The problem of Congress is that not only is it facing disintegration in Punjab, its strategy has also failed in Himachal. There is dissatisfaction against Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu in his own party. Sources reveal that there are three to six relations between Chief Minister Sukhu and his cabinet deputy Mukesh Agnihotri. Due to this disunity, Congress remained away from power in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also. In fact, Congress is now at loggerheads with today’s BJP, which is far ahead of Congress in making strategies. Modi-Shah’s election strategy is costing heavily on Congress. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is still a novice in the party. Whatever they get, it is only because of anti-incumbency of BJP governments. Rahul Gandhi neither ran any government nor held any ministry. He also could not run the organization smoothly. He remained only behind the scenes.
Khadge’s hands are tied
By their strategy of staying behind the scenes, they prevent their failures from being exposed but lose in the election game. Because of this they are losing all the states in North India. In those states where Congress has chances of winning, divisions within the party lead to its defeat. In such a situation, Rahul Gandhi will have to stop the very ambitious leaders of Congress. Otherwise the party will lose its credibility. Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge is now elderly and is unable to take decisions on his own. He has to ask Rahul Gandhi for every big and small decision. In such a situation, how will Congress be able to deal with the tactics of BJP? Either Rahul Gandhi should take over the post of President himself or the person who is made the National President should have complete freedom to take decisions at his own level.
Congress will have to deal with divisions
Channi’s supporters are happy with his victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He says that just six months before the 2022 assembly elections, the Congress high command had handed over the post of Chief Minister to Charanjit Singh Channi. He did not get the opportunity to deal with the failures of his predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh. That is why Congress got defeated in Punjab. In a way, it was the failure of the four-year-old Captain Government of Congress in Punjab. The benefit of this was that AAP got a new party and Bhagwant Mann got the chair. But the credibility of the Bhagwant government has fallen a lot and they are not able to retain even their party’s MPs, in such a situation, the defeat of the AAP government in the 2027 assembly elections is certain. The only option can be Congress. But before this Congress will have to overcome its divisions.
Leave a Reply