'Former Punjab Congress president': Warring changes X bio amid exit buzz

Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has effectively signalled his exit as Punjab Congress chief by rewriting his bio on X as "Former PPCC President". This comes even as the party has yet to name a successor. Senior Congress leaders in Punjab, including Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, are in New Delhi amid the transition.

Warring first changed the designation from "President, INC Punjab" to "Former President INC Punjab" and, within minutes, to "Former PPCC President". The Indian Express reported on Thursday that the Congress high command has decided to remove Warring as Punjab Congress chief.

Warring's other bio entries - Ludhiana MP, former Punjab cabinet minister, former Gidderbaha MLA and former Indian Youth Congress president - are unchanged. Earlier in the day, he refused to confirm the change to reporters, saying he had just returned from a walk and would speak later.

On the speculation about his resignation as Punjab Congress President, he said, "I don't want to comment on anything. When the time is right, I will let you know." On whether he will visit the party office in Delhi, he said, "Some matters are internal..."

The Congress high command, it is learnt, has decided to replace Warring as the state chief, but there has been no formal announcement. Warring has headed the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee since April 2022, when he succeeded Navjot Singh Sidhu after the party's Assembly defeat. The move follows months of factional pressure and organisational feedback gathered by AICC Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot, who replaced Bhupesh Baghel on September 5.

In July, the high command retained Warring, appointed Channi as chairperson of the campaign committee and gave other roles to leaders, including Randhawa and Vijay Inder Singla. The arrangement did not settle the dissent.

Many contenders for top post

The name of the next state Congress president remains uncertain. Names doing the rounds include former minister and CWC member Singla, Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh, former chief minister and Jalandhar MP Channi, Gurdaspur MP Randhawa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Raja Sansi MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria.

Asked in Patiala whether he can be the next Punjab Congress president, Singla said, "I am a loyal soldier of the party, and whenever I have been given a responsibility, I have always worked as a party worker. I will continue to work in the same manner with everyone in the future. Today, our president is Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, and all of us, including party leaders and workers, are working with him. Whenever the party has given me responsibility to work in another state, I have gone there and worked for the party..."

Sources have suggested an announcement could come within a day or two, possibly after further consultations with Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Channi said the choice of state president was the party's prerogative. "It is the prerogative of the Congress party, and of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. They know where to appoint someone and when to make a change. They will decide whether a change needs to be made or not," he said, adding that reshuffles were routine and that Pilot's appointment had created "a new sense of hope" among workers.

Separately, after a meeting at Congress headquarters in Delhi, Randhawa told reporters that the party was "fully prepared" for the Punjab elections and would fight on "extortionism, gangsterism, law and order, youth and the state's economy."

The change comes months before the 2027 Assembly polls, with the high command still trying to present a united front after a prolonged rift between the Warring and Channi camps.