Channi holds show of strength, Randhawa-Shah meet sets of speculation amid Punjab Congress reshuffle

The revamp of the Punjab Congress has triggered fresh turbulence in the State unit, with former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday (July 3, 2026) convening a meeting of party leaders and supporters to press the high command to appoint him president of the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC).

Mr. Channi, the Lok Sabha member from Jalandhar and a Dalit, met his loyalists at his residence in Morinda, about 30 km from Chandigarh.

In Delhi, senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur Lok Sabha member Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah only added to the sense of turmoil within the State unit, though he maintained that the interaction was solely to discuss Punjab’s deteriorating law and order situation.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC), while announcing several election-related committees for Punjab on Wednesday, appointed Mr. Channi as the chairperson of the Campaign Committee but retained Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as PCC president.

The decision, sources said, had upset Mr. Channi, and Friday’s (July 3) meeting was intended to convey his displeasure to the party leadership.

“We have no issues with the high command, but we do have some objections. We want the leadership to hear our grievances and resolve them so that the Congress party comes to power,” sitting MLA Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa told presspersons.

Sharing a video of Mr. Bajwa’s remarks on X, Mr. Channi posted, “Congress party leadership called on me at my residence and urged me to present the sentiments and aspirations of the people of Punjab before the High Command.”

Among those present at the meeting were former Deputy Chief Minister O.P. Soni, former Ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, former MP Mohd. Sadiq, and former MLAs Nazar Singh Manshahia, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Lakhvir Singh Lakha, Darshan Singh Brar and Tarsem Singh.

Mr. Randhawa, who has been appointed chairperson of the Core Committee in Punjab, said his meeting with the Home Minister was a follow-up to a letter he had written to the Prime Minister on law and order issues, including the predominance of gangsters, extortion and Pakistan-sponsored narco-terrorism, particularly in Punjab’s border districts.

Discontent brews

The senior Congress leader, however, acknowledged a sense of disquiet within the party and said only AICC observer Ajay Maken could explain the basis of the report he had submitted to the high command on the changes to be made in the State unit.

“It certainly hurts when all this is happening after a list comes out. I have the habit of speaking out the truth, and I don’t know what it means,” Mr. Randhawa said. “The situation is not as bad as you think. But it is a matter to ponder that it should not have come to this. It is unfortunate that after so many meetings, people are still not satisfied.”

Earlier, The Hindu had reported that senior leader Manish Tewari had been left out of all the election-related committees, prompting him to remark that he did not have an “antidote to individual and institutional insecurities.”