2027 Elections: INC Internal Feud Deepens; AAP Makes U-turn on Hawara’s Parole

August

2026

Around 15 Indian National Congress (INC) Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from Panjab have sought time from the party’s central leadership to discuss ‘pressing’ issues in an attempt to end the ongoing internal leadership feud ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The party’s Har Booth, Congress Mazboot (Congress strong in every booth) campaign held between 31 Jul–8 Aug saw open factionalism, sloganeering, clashes, and poster war targeting All India Congress Committee general secretary Bhupesh Baghel and Panjab Pradesh Congress Committee Chief (PPCC) Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Controversial hoardings saying Go back ‘Baghel’, alluding to ‘Go Back Simon’ (against Sir John Simon Commission under British India), appeared in Sri Muktsar Sahib on 3 Aug. In Ludhiana, supporters of INC leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu raised slogans, and openly displayed posters and T-shirts carrying the same slogan. In Malerkotla, rival factions reportedly clashed on stage. In Khanna, INC workers raised slogans in support of former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. A senior INC leader said, ‘Instead of strengthening booths, Baghel’s campaign has left them fractured.’ Meanwhile, amid speculation of an alliance between Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was later debunked by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House, New Delhi on 7 Aug. Following the meeting, SAD supported the immediate implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill, and fair and equitable delimitation to ensure equal representation to all states—a move seen as appeasing the BJP for a possible alliance. With the threat of the proposed BJP-SAD alliance eating into its vote base, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Panjab government responded by making a U-turn on pro-Khalistan extremist Jagtar Singh Hawara's parole application who is currently serving life imprisonment at Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Hawara was convicted as a conspirator in the 1995 assassination of the 12^th Chief Minister of Panjab Beant Singh. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wrote to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria seeking a 10-day parole for Hawara on humanitarian grounds citing his ailing mother's health. However, a letter dated 19 Feb 2026, issued by the Panjab Department of Jails, shows that Hawara's parole application was forwarded to Tihar Jail authorities with an ‘unfavorable’ recommendation citing 25 criminal cases against him by the same AAP government (earlier coverage).