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The Congress high command has informed Warring of its decision to replace him, following which he offered to resign.
Combo pic: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former minister and MP Vijay Inder Singla. (AFP photos)
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring is set to quit his post following weeks of infighting in the state unit, party sources said on Wednesday.
The Congress high command has informed Warring of its decision to replace him, following which he offered to resign, the sources said. Former minister and MP Vijay Inder Singla has emerged as the frontrunner for the post ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls.
The announcement of a new state Congress chief is expected soon.
Warring’s Exit After Factionalism
The move comes after months of differences between groups led by Warring and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
The issue of appointing a new state chief was recently discussed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot.
The party is looking to appoint a leader who can bring together the Warring and Channi camps ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, sources said.
The Punjab Congress has been dealing with factionalism since the party decided on July 1 to retain Warring as state chief while appointing Channi as chairperson of its campaign committee.
Singla Emerges As Frontrunner
Singla, a Congress Working Committee member and former minister, was appointed chairperson of the party’s election management and coordination committee on July 1.
Besides Singla, the names of former Olympian and Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh, former MLA Rana KP Singh, Raja Sansi MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Channi and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are also being discussed for the post.
The party had earlier sent senior leader Bhupesh Baghel to Punjab in an effort to address differences within the state unit, but tensions between the rival camps continued to surface at party programmes.
Congress Faces Poll Challenge
The factionalism has emerged as a key issue for the Congress ahead of the 2027 Punjab polls.
During the party’s ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot‘ campaign, supporters of Channi raised slogans backing him, while clashes between supporters of Channi and Warring were reported at some meetings.
The Punjab Congress has faced similar internal divisions in the past. In 2021, the party removed Amarinder Singh as chief minister following a prolonged tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu and later appointed Channi to the post.
In the 2022 Assembly polls, the Congress won 18 of Punjab’s 117 seats, compared with 77 seats in 2017.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Ask News18Amarinder Singh Raja Warring is set to quit following weeks of internal factionalism and differences between groups led by him and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The Congress high command informed him of its decision to replace him, prompting him to offer his resignation.
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