Congress leader and Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday submitted his report on the ongoing infighting in the Punjab unit to AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, saying any decision on the party’s leadership would be taken after due deliberation and not treated as a casual exercise.
Baghel, who met Venugopal at his residence, said he had completed an extensive six-day consultation in Punjab before preparing the report.
”I met leaders from across the state, both in meetings at the Punjab Congress Committee office and through one-to-one interactions. Based on those discussions, I have submitted my report to Venugopal,” he told reporters.
Amid speculation over a possible change in the state leadership, Baghel said there had been no resignation from Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring so far.
He also dismissed suggestions that the party would take hasty decisions, saying leadership changes cannot be handled like “a game of puppets or dolls”, indicating that the Congress high command would take a considered call after examining the feedback received from party leaders.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa also arrived at Venugopal’s residence as the Congress leadership continued consultations over the crisis in the state unit.
The development comes a day after senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Venugopal to discuss the factional feud in the Punjab Congress and the way forward.
The leadership exercise follows Baghel’s meetings with party leaders in Punjab on July 11, during which several senior leaders openly questioned Warring’s leadership.
During the interactions, many of the 92 leaders who met Baghel, including sitting MLAs and former legislators, reportedly conveyed that while they had no personal differences with Warring, they did not believe he could lead the Congress back to power in the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Among those who attended the consultations were former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Aruna Chaudhary, OP Soni, Pargat Singh, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
The Congress high command is expected to examine Baghel’s report before taking a final call on the organisational issues in Punjab, where factional divisions have intensified ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.