Chandigarh: In a new twist to the ongoing power tussle in the Punjab Congress, the party’s state in-charge, Bhupesh Baghel, on Monday asserted that Rahul Gandhi was the party’s “only face” in the state, signalling the high command’s intent to project a unified leadership ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. If the Congress ultimately decides against projecting a chief ministerial face, it would mark a departure from its strategy in past assembly elections. In 2012 and 2017, the party projected Capt Amarinder Singh as its CM candidate. In 2022, it declared the then CM, Charanjit Singh Channi, as its chief ministerial face.The remarks came against the backdrop of a faction led by Channi, who is now Jalandhar MP, demanding the removal of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and urging the party leadership to project Channi as the party’s chief ministerial face for the elections.Baghel met Channi and other senior party functionaries, including Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Partap Singh Bajwa, Pargat Singh, OP Soni and several others, at the residence of Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh on Saturday. The meeting came after days of negotiations between the party leadership and the dissident camp. The functionaries had argued that the party needed “a fearless leader, not a compromised one” and warned the Congress’s prospects in the 2027 assembly elections would be “doomed” if Warring continued on the post. After the meeting, however, Baghel reiterated there would be no reconsideration of the high command’s decision to retain Warring. “There is no confusion or ambiguity in the minds of the people of Punjab. Just as they reposed their faith in Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections, they are placing their trust in him for the assembly elections. The Congress has only one face in Punjab, and that is Rahul Gandhi,” Baghel said in a post on social media. Prof Ashutosh Kumar of the department of political science at Panjab University described the episode as “bad optics” for the party and termed the conduct of the leaders involved in the dispute “immature”. He said Punjab was among the few states where the Congress had a real opportunity to return to power, making the continuing infighting particularly damaging. On Baghel’s assertion that Rahul Gandhi would be the principal face of the party, Prof Kumar said Gandhi remained the Congress’s most popular leader nationally and continued to enjoy considerable goodwill among voters in Punjab.
