Tussle for Punjab Congress chief post: Leaders from Channi camp arrive to meet Baghel
Amid a tussle over the party's State leadership, Congress leaders considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday (July 11, 2026)
Amid a tussle over the party's State leadership, Congress leaders considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday (July 11, 2026) started arriving at party leader Rana Gurjit Singh's residence, where a meeting has been scheduled with AICC State in-charge Bhupesh Baghel. Baghel also reached Rana Gurjit's residence at around 12.15 p.m. Ending days of suspense, Mr. Channi and senior Congress leaders close to him decided to finally meet Mr. Baghel on Saturday (July 11) and apprise him of party workers' "sentiments". #WATCH | Chandigarh | Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa says, "There is no point in saying anything before the meeting... Raja Warring is the state party President. He should have come on his own... I have no grudges. I have worked with him. He ought to realise who is… pic.twitter.com/ivQJUKV8zC — ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2026 Channi, along with senior leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, along with several other leaders, have reached Rana Gurjit's residence. It was not clear if Mr. Baghel would interact with all the leaders present or only a select number of them.
Leader of Opposition and senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was invited by Rana Gurjit Singh, and former deputy chief minister O.P. Singh will be present at the meeting. On July 1, the Congress announced that Amrinder Singh Raja Warring would continue as the Punjab unit president and appointed Mr. Channi as chairperson of the campaign committee. Channi, who was said to be "miffed" at not being appointed the State president, had not met Mr. Baghel, who arrived in Punjab on Monday and held a series of meetings with the State's leaders and office-bearers. Baghel is set to hold a separate meeting with the Channi camp on Saturday (July 11, 2026). Warring will not be a part of it. Before entering Rana Gurjit's residence, Mr. Channi told reporters, "We are going to attend the meeting and talk to everyone. We will let you know." Asked if Warring was acceptable to them as the state unit president, Mr. Channi said that everything would be discussed in the meeting. When it was pointed out that many of his supporters said they did not accept Mr. Warring's leadership, he said, "Let us discuss first.
You know from the beginning what our stand is. Baaki tel dekhenge tel ki daar dekhenge (wait and watch)." Senior leader and MP Sukhjinder Randhawa, when asked if the Channi camp had not invited Warring, replied, "He (Warring) can better reply whether he was not invited or he is not coming." Minister Gurpreet Kangar said the meeting was being held specifically to discuss whether Mr. Warring's leadership was acceptable to them or not. Another party leader, Inderbir Bolaria, told reporters that Mr. Baghel will be apprised about the "sentiments and ground realities". "Our senior leader Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa had earlier said that there are some things that we want to convey to the party high command. We will place these issues before Baghel, so that he can convey it to the high command," Mr. Bolaria said. In an X post on Friday evening (July 10, 2026), Mr. Channi had written, "United for Punjab. We have invited Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel ji on July 11 to place before him the sentiments of Congress workers and the people of Punjab." Since his arrival in the State earlier in the week, Mr. Baghel has held a series of meetings with several party leaders and office-bearers, while the party is gearing up for the 2027 Assembly polls.
The BriefWire