INC Retains Warring as Panjab Chief, Sparks Dissatisfaction Among Workers

July

2026

Unable to resolve factionalism and the leadership tangle in the Indian National Congress (INC) Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (state unit, PPCC), ahead of the assembly elections, the INC had appointed three observers to visit Panjab—Ajay Maken, Meenakshi Natarajan, and Bhajan Lal Jatav—to assess the political scenario. The observers reported the INC workers’ unhappiness with state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and favored former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. On 2 Jul, INC released its list of heads of various panels for the upcoming Assembly polls and again appointed Warring as state chief, along with three working presidents. The INC placed Channi in charge of the election campaign. The INC list shows that the party has tried to accommodate its various factions and leaders. INC named former minister Vijay Inder Singla, chairman of the Election Management and Coordination Committee, and senior leader Sukhjinder Randhawa has been entrusted with heading the Core Committee. Another senior leader, Amar Singh, will lead the Manifesto Committee. Member of Parliament from Chandigarh and former Union minister, Manish Tewari, has been excluded from the list. Responding to his exclusion, Tewari posted a cryptic message on X, 'Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.' Channi maintained a studied silence but called for a meeting of INC workers and leaders at his residence in Morinda, Rupnagar district. Many senior leaders, including those considered close to Warring, attended the meeting and came out in favor of Channi. Channi's detractors argue that he is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate and the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, so the party cannot risk him as its state chief. Meanwhile, on the same day as Channi’s meeting, Randhawa met with the union Home Minister Amit Shah. Though Randhawa clarified that the meeting was about law and order and national security concerns in Panjab’s border districts, the timing provoked rumors of him joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. The issue INC has in Panjab is not just who heads the party in the state, but its constant misreading of the ground situation, along with its inability to find a leader who inspires trust in the party cadre (earlier coverage).