Amid continuing infighting in the Punjab Congress, the party's state in-charge Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday met AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and submitted his report on the leadership situation after days of consultations with party leaders.
The report follows Baghel's six-day visit to Punjab, during which he held meetings with leaders at the Punjab Congress office as well as one-on-one interactions to assess the internal discord.
Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa also met Venugopal at his residence on Wednesday but did not reveal the details of their discussion.
The leadership dispute erupted after the Congress high command decided to retain Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the Punjab Congress president.
A section of senior leaders, led by former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, has opposed the decision.
Baghel said his report reflects the views gathered during his interactions with leaders across the state.
"I visited Punjab for six days where I met the leaders and heard all of them, including at the Punjab Congress office and during one-on-one meetings. After meeting everyone and having discussions with leaders of Punjab, I have submitted my report to AICC general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal," Baghel told reporters here.
When asked whether he had recommended a change in the state leadership to resolve the crisis, Baghel declined to divulge the contents of his report.
"How can I tell you what report I have given to the party leadership?"
He reiterated that he had held individual discussions with all key leaders before submitting his assessment to the party leadership.
The development comes after Rahul Gandhi, who recently returned from abroad, held a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi. The two leaders are learnt to have discussed the Punjab leadership issue ahead of the Assembly elections due early next year.
Baghel has also been summoned to Delhi and is expected to hold further discussions with the party's top leadership as the Congress seeks an amicable resolution to the crisis.
According to party sources, Gandhi is keen to hear the views of Punjab leaders and move quickly to end the factionalism, with the leadership concerned about entering the Assembly elections amid continued internal divisions. Baghel, a former Chhattisgarh chief minister, had spent the past several days in Punjab meeting leaders to gauge the situation before submitting his report.
(With inputs from PTI)