Congress refuses to blink, Charanjit Singh Channi falls in line ‘will abide by party decision’

4 min readChandigarhUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 02:53 AM IST

With the Congress refusing to blink on the issue of Punjab leadership, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa Thursday professed adherence to the party high command’s decision.

“All is well. We are with the party and will obey all the directions of the party high command,” Channi told reporters in New Delhi.

He was talking to the reporters after emerging from a meeting with AICC general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal. Apart from Channi and Randhawa, MLAs Pargat Singh and Rana Gurjeet Singh too attended the meeting that lasted around three hours.

Channi, and the others who owe allegiance to him, had been sulking after the high command asked Amrinder Singh Raja Warring to continue as party’s Punjab unit chief ahead of Assembly elections in the state early next year.

“We were called here today and have put across our point of view. I want to make one thing absolutely clear and that is that we stand with the party. Rahul Gandhi is our leader, we love him and we will live and die with him. Mallikarjun Kharge is our party president and all our workers and leaders stand firmly with the party and will continue to do,” Channi said.

He also sought to scotch any speculation on the widening rift within the party in Punjab.

“There has been an unnecessary media trial. We had no intention of embarrassing anyone or belittling anyone. We want to take the party forward. The high command heard us and whatever decision it takes, we will accept it and move forward accordingly,” he said, adding that when “we held the meeting in Chandigarh, our only intention was to put across our point of view to Bhupesh Baghel ji”.

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With voices of dissent getting stronger after Warring was retained as PPCC chief, the central leadership had rushed Baghel to Punjab where he stayed for six days, met the leaders, and gave a report to Venugopal in Delhi on Wednesday. Baghel had also indicated status quo in Punjab leadership change “is not a game of puppets”.

Sources in Congress say that the riot act was read out to the dissident leaders and it was made clear to them that they will have to obey the decisions of the high command. It was also conveyed to them that their public statements were showing party in poor light.

The party had earlier hinted that it will not back on its decision on Warring as it may portray “weakening of the organisational structure” ahead of the Assembly polls. “Of 29 district presidents in the state, 25 are with Warring. He also has the support of four (of seven) MPs and 10 (of 18) MLAs,” a source had told the Indian Express.

Speaking to reporters at Congress Bhawan, Rana Gurjit said that he had received a message from Venugopal’s office to attend a meeting. After the meeting, Rana refused to comment on the outcome.

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Sources indicated that the dissident leaders expressed concerns about internal unity and organisational effectiveness. Channi reportedly conveyed to Venugopal that Warring “cannot unite leaders,” reflecting deep dissatisfaction within the dissident camp, which claims support from around 80 leaders, including several MLAs.

The dissident group had earlier met Baghel in Chandigarh on July 11 at Rana Gurjeet Singh’s residence, reiterating their opposition to Warring and pressing for resolution. Other prominent figures associated with the Channi camp include Partap Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

Bajwa, the Congress Legislature Party leader in the state assembly, too met Venugopal at his residence but did not disclose what transpired during the meeting.