Punjab: Channi camp to meet Baghel tomorrow; Warring says 'you will see us all together'

Chandigarh, Jul 10 (PTI) Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and some senior Congress leaders considered close to him will hold a meeting with party state general secretary in-charge Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday, three days after he ruled out any change in the state party leadership. Sources said that Channi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, and Rana Gurjit could be among the leaders to meet Baghel. In a recent development, Former Union minister Buta Singh's family on Friday demanded that Channi, also an MP from Jalandhar, be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Assembly polls due early next year. Late Buta Singh's son Sarabjot Singh and daughter Gurkirat Kaur, who called on Channi at his residence, spoke to the media in the presence of Jalandhar MP. Kaur said that in the previous elections, we demanded that the chief ministerial candidate be from the Dalit community. "Even now, we want to request Rahul Gandhi ji and the Congress that we want to see Charanjit Channi as the chief minister. The next year's elections should be fought under his leadership," she said. "We are providing him full support," she added. "It is ours and our community's feeling that we are sharing with you," she said. Buta Singh served as the country's home minister and was one of the tallest Dalit leaders from Punjab. When Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring was asked about the issue, he told reporters here that Baghel has told him that a meeting has been scheduled for Saturday. Baghel will speak to them separately, he said on Friday. Warring will not be a part of the meeting. When Warring was asked how soon Channi, who is also the chairman of the party's campaign committee in Punjab, would be seen together with him, he said, "In a day or two, you will see us all together". He said he does not hold a grudge against any leader and asserted that Congress is united. When asked that Channi camp is not accepting his presidentship of the state unit, Warring said there was nothing like that and added, "Tell me one senior leader who has said that they are not ready to accept me. Channi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Aruna Chaudhary, Partap Singh Bajwa, tell me who among these leaders has said so?" Amid the Punjab Congress leadership buzz, senior leaders considered close to Channi on Thursday relented and decided to meet Baghel. Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh had said, "We will meet Baghel and present our views." The development comes days after Baghel began his five-day visit to Punjab to prepare the party for the state Assembly polls due early next year. Baghel has extended his visit. Channi, who is said to be unhappy over not being appointed the state party president, along with leaders considered close to him, including Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Rana Gurjit, is yet to meet Baghel. After his arrival here on Monday, the AICC general secretary Baghel, who is also former chief minister of Chhattisgarh, has held a series of interactions with several party leaders and office-bearers, gearing up the party for the 2027 polls. On being asked that Randhawa has asked him to look within to see why he got upset with him, Warring said Randhawa is like his elder brother and also a senior leader. "They are all my elders (Randhawa, Channi..). I don't think he (Randhawa) is upset with me, but I will speak to him," he said. Warring, along with senior Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, also addressed a press conference here. Shrinate was asked about the factionalism seen in Punjab Congress with assembly polls a few months away. "When polls will be held, I have full confidence that Congress will form its government," Shrinate said. She also said that politics is another name for ambition, and every person has ambition. Our party emerged from the freedom movement; occasionally, there are some differences of opinion (bartan khadakna), but then we all come together," she said. Everything will be resolved, she said. People know only Congress can take the state on the path of progress, she further said. She also said, unlike AAP, whose government in Punjab is being run by leaders sitting in Delhi, the same culture does not exist in Congress. On Thursday, Baghel had expressed confidence about the party's prospects of forming the government in Punjab after the assembly elections. Leaders, including Pargat Singh and Randhawa, have asserted that the Congress remained "united and strong", saying the party's larger objective was to return to power after the 2027 Assembly polls. Pargat Singh, however, acknowledged that some "differences of opinion" existed and said these would be conveyed to Baghel. On July 1, the Congress announced that Amrinder Singh Raja Warring would continue as the Punjab unit president and appointed Channi as chairperson of the campaign committee. Several senior leaders held a meeting in Mohali in Channi's presence on Monday, days after several incumbent and former MLAs threw their weight behind Channi to be reconsidered for the state unit chief's post. Dismissing speculation about a rethink on Warring's retention as the state party chief, Baghel on Wednesday said, "When the high command has taken a decision, it is not changed. 'Koi gudda-guddi ka khel hai kya ke baar-baar nirnay badla jaega? (Is this a child's play that the decision will be changed repeatedly?)" PTI SUN VSD APL APL