They gathered for a march, but their coming together was more notable than the protest itself, as the Congress leadership in Punjab showed some unity in Chandigarh on Tuesday for a demonstration against the AAP government. The party’s new central in-charge Sachin Pilot led the protest, where former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state unit president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring shared a stage for the first time in nearly three months.
At Tuesday’s protest, when Channi’s name was announced from the stage, Congress workers raised slogans in his support. Channi, however, did not mention Warring by name in his speech.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa sought to play up the togetherness, saying, “Look, all Congressmen have gathered on the stage.”
Partap Bajwa also made a significant statement on the Congress’s strategy for the assembly elections due in six months, saying the party would fight without projecting a chief ministerial face. He also invoked Gulzar Singh’s death, saying the poor Dalit man died while naming the minister. “In Punjab’s fight, I will remain at the forefront. Warring turned up the heat on Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, challenging him to come face-to-face with the Congress.
Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who have also been players in the factionalism, were present, too, as the leaders set out from the Punjab Congress Bhawan in Sector 15 towards Cheema’s official residence.
Addressing Congress workers before the march, Pilot launched a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann government, alleging that “chitta” (heroin, or synthetic chemical drugs) is being home-delivered in Punjab. I will take the first lathi; the workers will come later,” Pilot said. He said he would confront and corner Mann on the issue.
Channi and leaders in his camp had been opposing Warring’s continuance as the state Congress president.
Bhupesh Baghel, the former Chhattisgarh CM deployed earlier as Punjab in-charge, also faced strong opposition within the unit.
