Former Punjab Chief Minister and current Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi skipped Rahul Gandhi’s address in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, opting instead to lead a local protest in Faridkot. The move has once again highlighted the growing internal factionalism within the Punjab Congress unit.
Channi was the only member among the Congress party’s seven MPs from Punjab absent during the Leader of Opposition’s speech. His absence came despite an explicit message sent via WhatsApp by Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla—who heads the Congress parliamentary group—urging all party MPs from the state to attend the session.
Parallel Protests and Political Friction
While Rahul Gandhi addressed Parliament, Channi spearheaded a demonstration outside Baba Farid University in Faridkot against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over an alleged recruitment exam scam involving Pharmacy Officers. The protest was attended by key Channi loyalists, including former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, in a clear display of strength for the former chief minister.
Simultaneously, state Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring led a separate protest with other Punjab Congress MPs outside Parliament in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains over the same exam issue.
This dual demonstration follows a previous protest on Monday led by Warring at Parliament, which both Channi and fellow MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also skipped.
Failed Reconciliation Efforts
The rift stems from ongoing leadership friction between Channi and Warring. Although the Congress high command decided on July 1 to retain Warring as state president, Channi was assigned to head the campaign committee, and Randhawa was appointed chief of the core committee. Discontent remained, leading a faction of Punjab leaders to press for Warring’s removal.
To manage the fallout, Punjab party in-charge Bhupesh Baghel spent a week in Chandigarh, while General Secretary (Organization) K.C. Venugopal summoned key leaders to New Delhi to emphasize party discipline. Despite a public show of unity at the party’s headquarters—where Channi and Warring were seated together—insiders report that the two leaders remain on non-speaking terms.
Even a confidential meeting arranged in Delhi by poll strategist Naresh Arora on Tuesday failed to resolve the impasse, as evidenced by the separate protests held the following day.
With Bhupesh Baghel set to begin a fresh tour of Punjab to meet local leaders, the high command faces continued challenges in unifying its state leadership ahead of upcoming elections.
