Though Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi addressed a MGNREGA Bachao rally in Barnala on Saturday, his message to Punjab Congress leaders to operate as “team players” did not go unnoticed and continues to create ripples in the state’s political landscape.
Warning his partymen, including senior leaders who were seated alongside him on the stage, to “fall in line” or be “fixed” by him and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the LoP said: “One player cannot win a game… be a team player or you will be benched.”
Gandhi’s remarks almost immediately went viral with edited 20-second clips doing the rounds on social media. The Punjab BJP also weighed in and shared the clip on its social media handles, accusing Gandhi of “insulting and threatening the state Congress leadership” while claiming that the remark was a “mark of stamp” on the faction-riddled unit of the Punjab Congress.
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said there was “neither an agenda for Punjab nor any discussion about farmers and labourers” at the Barnala rally, describing Gandhi’s remarks as an attempt to publicly humiliate a “fragmented leadership”.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal echoed the criticism, claiming Gandhi had come to Punjab only to “manage infighting” within his party.
‘United front’
However, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa sought to downplay the controversy, arguing that differences of opinion are natural in any political formation. “Which party does not have differences of opinion — be it BJP, SAD or AAP? Do you think (AAP national convenor) Arvind Kejriwal and (Punjab Chief Minister) Bhagwant Mann are on the same page? Don’t Mann and (Punjab Finance Minister) Harpal Singh Cheema have any differences?” he said.
Bajwa maintained that the Congress was not witnessing divisions. “Our entire state leadership was on the stage and all were together at the Barnala rally,” he added.
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Drawing a cricketing analogy, Bajwa said: “He may have given the message to our opening batsmen that the party has many good players sitting in reserve and if they are given a chance, the openers may have to sit in reserve.” Asked who the message was meant for, Bajwa said it applied to “everyone”.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring struck a similar note, insisting no individual leader was being singled out. “It was a general message for each and everyone and not for anyone in particular. The rally had a huge gathering and people were fully charged up. So Rahulji gave a message from the stage that this aggression will work only when we are a team,” he said
Warring said the Congress, after the “grand success” of the Barnala rally, would now focus on issue-based politics, including raising questions on the AAP government’s unfulfilled promise of Rs 1,000 per month for women and challenging the feasibility of the Shiromani Akali Dal’s pension proposals.
The Channi question
The optics at the rally added another layer to the “divided Punjab Congress” narrative. While Gandhi was on the stage, supporters of former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi raised slogans in his favour. The applause was loudest when Channi came up to speak or when his name was invoked from the dais.
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In his address, Channi highlighted what he described as achievements during his three-month tenure as CM from September 2021 to March 2022. He cited electricity bill waivers, Rs 17,000 per acre compensation to farmers for damaged cotton crops in Malwa, and reductions in fuel prices.
Channi’s presence and the enthusiasm of his supporters revived memories of the 2022 Assembly elections, when the Congress projected him as its CM face but only managed to win 18 of the 117 seats as against the AAP’s 91. Channi himself lost both the seats he contested.
Signs of strain between Channi and the Congress had surfaced earlier this year. In January, a video of Channi addressing workers of the Congress SC Morcha went viral, in which he commented on what he termed inadequate representation of the community in the party.
Senior leaders subsequently spoke to the Punjab leadership to contain the situation. Channi later denied targeting any community, calling the controversy “malicious online propaganda”.
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A party insider summed up the situation: “The differences in the party are becoming more popular than the efforts of the party to be politically active. The 20-second speech has overpowered the real motive behind the rally.”
High command warning
The controversy comes despite a warning issued by the Congress high command in January, asking Punjab leaders not to make public statements on internal matters or against one another amid reports of intense factionalism. It was also conveyed that there would be no immediate leadership change and that decisions on candidates and campaigning would be taken by the central leadership.
During the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram rallies in January, AICC Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel repeatedly said all senior leaders were effectively CM faces and that the final call would rest with the high command.
Baghel’s clarification came after former Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu, in December last year, claimed that five to six party leaders were projecting themselves as chief ministerial aspirants. She was suspended a day later, quit the party on January 31, and in mid-February accused state leaders of “killing the Congress in Punjab”.
