Congress Leadership Removes Punjab Party Chief Warring

The Congress central leadership removed Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday, bowing to months of pressure from a faction of state leaders who had openly challenged his authority. Warring was informed of the decision earlier in the day and subsequently resigned, according to party sources cited by The Hindu. He did not comment publicly but updated his X profile to read "former PPCC President."

The move caps a prolonged period of infighting that has paralysed the state unit ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The principal fault line ran between Warring and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. In July, an attempted organisational reshuffle retained Warring as president but placed Channi at the head of the election campaign committee, an arrangement that failed to quell the dissent. Channi and his allies continued to demand Warring’s removal, bringing the division into the open.

To manage the crisis, the high command replaced Bhupesh Baghel with Sachin Pilot as the All India Congress Committee in-charge for Punjab last month. Pilot submitted a detailed report on the state unit’s affairs to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi at a meeting last week. The leadership’s decision to remove Warring is seen as an effort to pacify the disgruntled faction before the electoral cycle intensifies.

Party sources indicated that a new president is likely to be announced within a day or two. The names under consideration include former minister and Member of Parliament Vijay Inder Singla, Lok Sabha MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa. The appointment will test whether the central leadership can impose a compromise candidate acceptable to the warring camps.