From Captain vs Bajwa to Warring vs Channi: The forever ‘versus’ situation in Punjab Congress

The popular American comedian and aphorist Joey Adam’s witty one-liner quite aptly sums up what the Congress party in Punjab has been practising for over a decade now: scripting their own defeats before rival parties would.

Ahead of every crucial election in the past decade, the Punjab Congress has found itself in an “action replay” mode: A “versus” situation between two senior party leaders, and other leaders jostling to join either “camp”. In every such situation, one senior party leader is seen pitted against the other, either to grab a plum posting or become the Chief Ministerial (CM) face.

Here’s a look at how Punjab Congress’s bigwigs have been engaged in such “battles of political upmanship” and how the party is always seen divided into “two camps” for over a decade now:

Captain Amarinder Singh Vs Partap Singh Bajwa (2015)

After the Congress lost the 2012 Punjab Assembly polls and the 2013 Moga bypoll to the SAD-BJP under his leadership, Captain Amarinder Singh, then PPCC president, was removed in 2013 and replaced by Partap Singh Bajwa.

However, ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, Captain Amarinder (now in the BJP) spearheaded a rebellion against Bajwa.

Captain’s supporters held multiple rallies and protests, flaunting the slogan: “Captain Liyao, Punjab Bachao” (Bring Captain, Save Punjab). The demand was to remove Bajwa as PPCC president and announce Captain as the CM face for the 2017 polls. Ultimately, Captain Amarinder got his way.

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After a series of rallies against his leadership, Bajwa was forced to resign as the PPCC president in November, 2015. Returning as the PPCC president, Captain then led the party to victory in the 2017 assembly polls. He took an oath as Punjab CM for the second time. After he became the CM, Sunil Jakhar took over as PPCC president in 2017.

Captain Amarinder Singh Vs Navjot Singh Sidhu (2017 onwards)

The power tussle in the Congress did not stop even after the party came to power in 2017, defeating the SAD-BJP alliance. The party was then divided into two factions — one led by then CM Captain and the other by then cabinet minister and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Sidhu had jumped from the BJP to the Congress ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls. He was included in Captain Amarinder Singh’s cabinet as the local government and tourism minister.

However, the bickering between both continued publicly, as Captain blamed him for being “inefficient”. Stripped of the local government portfolio, Sidhu was then assigned “power and new energy”.

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But he refused to join his new role and, in protest, he resigned from the Cabinet in June, 2019, with a one-line resignation letter sent to Rahul Gandhi, not the CM.

Charanjit Singh Channi vs Navjot Singh Sidhu (ahead of 2022 Assembly polls)

Even as Sidhu exited from Captain Amarinder’s cabinet in June, 2019, he and his supporters continued to run an anti-Captain campaign. In 2021, Sidhu was declared the PPCC chief by the Gandhis; he replaced Jakhar, who was considered a pro-Captain man.

Ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls, Charanjit Singh Channi was appointed the CM on September 19, 2021. Warring was forced to resign unceremoniously as the chief minister and eventually resigned from the Congress in November 2021.

Months after “working together” for Captain Amarinder’s ouster, Channi and Sidhu projected themselves as the Congress’s CM face for the 2022 polls. The party was again divided into two camps — Channi vs Sidhu; the factionalism went on for months, after which Rahul Gandhi stepped in.

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In a massive rally in Ludhiana on February 6, 2022, Gandhi announced Channi as the party’s CM face, with Sidhu also on stage. “People want a gareeb ghar ka CM (People want a CM from a poor household),” Gandhi said from the stage.

The fractured state Congress contested the 2022 polls with Channi as the CM face and Sidhu as PPCC president, only to face a massive drubbing at the hands of the AAP.

Sidhu resigned as PPCC chief and was replaced by former minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in April 2022.

Bharat Bhushan Ashu vs Raja Warring (2024 and 2025)

When Warring took over as PPCC president in April, 2022, former minister and the party’s prominent Hindu face from Ludhiana, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, was also elevated as the party’s working president.

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However, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Punjab Congress witnessed two new camps again — one led by Warring and the other by Ashu.

Congress’s Ludhiana Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh Bittu shifted to the BJP. Rahul Gandhi picked Warring to contest against Bittu. Ashu, a two-time former MLA from Ludhiana West and a former minister, was “ignored”, and his supporters projected Warring as a “parachute” candidate. Warring, however, defeated Bittu by a whisker.

But Warring vs Ashu did not end there, until it made Congress face another humiliating defeat — the Ludhiana West bypolls, 2025.

With Congress’s candidate Ashu and state president Warring not even on talking terms, the campaign never saw a united face.

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Even as Channi rallied behind Ashu and led his campaign, Ashu faced a massive loss to the AAP’s Sanjeev Arora by over 10,000 votes. After the loss, Warring said he was never “asked” by Ashu to campaign for him; Ashu said, “If pardhaan saab expects an invite for everything, he should sit comfortably in Chandigarh.”

Taking the “entire responsibility” for the Ludhiana bypoll defeat, Ashu resigned as Punjab’s state working president.

Warring Vs Charanjit Channi (ahead of 2027 polls)

Ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls, while the ruling AAP is going all out to win a second term, the Congress again has two camps — Warring Vs Channi. The party high command’s recent decision to retain Warring as state president has irked Channi and his supporters, who want him to be the CM face and the PPCC president.

Warring, however, has rejected reports of rifts in the party. On Saturday, he addressed Channi as “his elder brother” and “crown on Congress’s head”. Warring has also clarified that he will support whoever is declared the CM face by the party high command. “But Raja Warring is not in this (CM face) race. My only goal is to make Congress win,” he said.

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Both Channi and Warring won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Jalandhar and Ludhiana, respectively.