Internal Disputes Emerge in Punjab Congress Amid Protests

Congress Leaders at Odds During Lok Sabha Discussions

During a discussion in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke while Charanjit Singh Channi, the Congress MP from Jalandhar, was notably absent. This absence highlighted the recent rifts within the party's state unit. Instead of attending the parliamentary session, the former Chief Minister of Punjab participated in a protest in Faridkot.

The protest was organized to demand the resignation of the state's health and education ministers over allegations of a paper leak in a recent pharmacy recruitment examination. Following a meeting with Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal on July 16, Channi had stated that 'everything is fine' and emphasized that he and his faction would accept any decisions made by the party leadership.

When Rahul Gandhi engaged in a debate regarding the 'Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill-2026' in the Lok Sabha, Channi was the only one absent among the seven Congress MPs from Punjab. Reports indicate that Gurjeet Singh Aujla, the Congress MP from Amritsar, had sent a message to state MPs urging them to be present in the House after noon on Wednesday. This incident occurred amidst visible internal disagreements within the Punjab Congress.

The discord began when the Congress decided to retain Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the head of the Punjab unit, while Channi was appointed as the head of the election campaign committee. With elections approaching in Punjab early next year, a faction of leaders led by Channi and Sukjinder Singh Randhawa opposed this decision and called for Warring's removal from the position of Punjab Congress chief. Attempts to reach Channi on Thursday were unsuccessful.

However, it was revealed that while Rahul Gandhi was addressing Parliament, Channi was participating in a protest against the alleged paper leak in the pharmacy examination. Following the discovery of a cheating ring involved in the pharmacy recruitment exam, opposition parties have been pressuring the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, accusing it of multiple paper leaks over the past four and a half years. In contrast, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has maintained that there has been no paper leak during the tenure of the AAP.

As discontent within the Punjab Congress escalated, the party's state in-charge, Bhupesh Baghel, recently met with state leaders during a six-day visit to Punjab. He is set to embark on another ten-day visit starting Thursday as the Congress prepares for the upcoming state elections. On July 1, Channi was appointed as the head of the election campaign committee, while Randhawa was designated as the head of the core committee.