Amid growing infighting in the Punjab Congress, state unit president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday ruled out stepping down, while asserting that he would continue to work for the organisation even if the party leadership decides to replace him.
"I am not resigning," Warring told reporters during the Congress' 'Har Booth, Congress Mazboot' programme in Bathinda in the presence of AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel.
He added, "If the party high command decides to replace me, I would continue to work to strengthen the organisation."
The Ludhiana MP's remarks come days after supporters of former chief minister and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi raised slogans in his favour during Congress events, exposing simmering factional tensions within the state unit.
Warring said he had worked wholeheartedly for the party over the past four years and highlighted the Congress' performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it won seven of Punjab's 13 seats.
Fresh signs of discord surfaced on Monday during Channi's visit to Ferozepur to attend the coronation ceremony of newly elected Municipal Council president Ashok Sachdeva.
The event, organised by former MLA Parminder Singh Pinki, was attended by several senior Congress leaders, but posters at the venue did not carry photographs of Warring or Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.
The Congress has witnessed growing discontent after retaining Warring as Punjab Congress chief while appointing Channi as chairman of the party's campaign committee.
In Muktsar, posters reading "Go Back Baghel" and "Rahul Gandhi listen to the cry of Punjabis. Bring Channi, let's form Congress government" appeared ahead of the party programme.
Baghel dismissed the posters as the handiwork of rival parties. "AAP and BJP are having problem and it shows that they are scared."
Addressing party workers in Muktsar, Baghel accused the ruling AAP of attempting to disrupt Congress programmes under the 'Har Booth, Congress Mazboot' campaign.
"Once the government saw that Congress programmes were drawing huge crowds they started planting their people into the programmes and causing disruptions," he said, referring to the sloganeering witnessed at recent events.
Baghel praised Warring's leadership, saying Rahul Gandhi had entrusted him with the responsibility of rebuilding the Punjab Congress after the party's Assembly tally fell from 80 to 18 seats.
Without elaborating, Baghel said Warring was facing challenges from both outside and inside the party, but expressed confidence that the Congress would return to power in Punjab.
He alleged that the AAP government had created a "mafia raj", pushed the state into heavy debt, and claimed only the Congress could provide a better alternative. He also said the party had to fight political rivals as well as internal "sleeping cells" as cautioned by Rahul Gandhi, adding that those who had betrayed the party could not be spared.
Delivering an emotional speech in his hometown of Muktsar, Warring said, "Everyone is after my life. Akalis, BJP and the broom (AAP) and even some of our own are after me."
"I have not committed any sin and my only sin is that when we came from 80 to 18 I was handed over the reins of the party," he added.
Thanking the people of Gidderbaha for electing him as MLA, Warring said, "When the sitting and the former chief ministers lost, Gidderbaha made me win and I can never forget that."
Recalling the challenges he inherited, Warring said he rebuilt the organisation from the ground up when party workers' morale was low and "some leaders preferred to stay abroad for months together."
Reiterating his loyalty to the Congress, Warring said, "I have no desire to be the chief minister. I will better retire than leave the Congress," adding, "Rahul Gandhi also knows that Raja Warring can die, but never compromise with the BJP".
Asserting that the Congress was poised for a comeback in Punjab, Warring said the time of "(Narendra) Modi and (Arvind) Kejriwal" was over and claimed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had lost the confidence of the people.
(With inputs from PTI)
