Chandigarh: Amid growing unrest within the Punjab Congress over the party high command’s recent organisational reshuffle, former Chief Minister and MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday staged a major show of strength at his residence in Morinda, with several senior Congress leaders gathering in support.
Supporters began arriving at Channi’s residence around 11 am. By then, three sitting MLAs and nine former MLAs had reached the venue, fuelling speculation over the next political move by the former Chief Minister.
The Congress high command recently retained Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as Punjab Congress president and Partap Singh Bajwa as Leader of the Opposition, while constituting four new committees in an attempt to strike a balance among various factions ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Channi, who was considered a strong contender for the post of Punjab Congress president, was instead appointed Chairman of the Campaign Committee. The decision has reportedly left several senior leaders dissatisfied, with many of those accommodated in the new organisational structure yet to publicly thank the party leadership for their appointments.
Political observers believe today’s gathering could mark the beginning of a new phase in Punjab Congress politics, with the possibility of an important political announcement emerging from Channi’s camp.
Among those present at the meeting were sitting MLAs Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Rana Gurjeet Singh. Former MLAs Gurpreet Singh Kangar, O.P. Soni, Mohammad Sadiq, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Angad Singh Saini, Kushaldeep Singh Kikki Dhillon, Lakhbir Singh Lakha, Dalvir Singh Goldy and Parminder Singh Pinky also attended. Former Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon was also present.
Speaking to reporters, former minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar said the people of Punjab wanted Charanjit Singh Channi to lead the state unit of the Congress and had hoped to see him as the Punjab Congress president. He said the leaders had assembled for discussions and would abide by whatever decision was taken collectively during the meeting.
