No factionalism within party, says Punjab Congress chief 

Chandigarh, Jan 20 (IANS) Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Tuesday denied that there was any factionalism in the state party. 

He said that the Congress does not practice caste or communal politics like the BJP to polarise people. He also took a dig at the AAP government in Punjab for making a U-turn on the issue of the missing ‘swaroops’ of the holy Guru Granth Sahib. 

In an informal interaction with the media here, he said, unlike the BJP, the Congress does not believe in polarising and dividing people in the name of caste or religion. He said Punjab in particular never believed in caste or sectarian divisions.

Replying to a question on factionalism in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), he said the party is united in the state. He said maybe there are some minor differences among leaders which are part of every organisation and even a family. 

“But tell me where our leaders worked on cross purposes against each other or against the party?” he asked. 

He said that while there are 34 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC), in case there are more deserving candidates from their community, they can still be accommodated. 

“If there are 50 deserving SC candidates, they will all get the tickets irrespective of the fact that only 34 are reserved for the SCs,” he said. 

Replying to a question about the recent remarks made by former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Warring said he would not like to comment on that. 

He further pointed out that Channi was made the Chief Minister after the removal of an upper caste CM Amarinder Singh, and earlier he was made the CLP leader after the removal of an upper caste leader Sunil Jakhar. 

Warring noted that Channi was specially picked up to be the Chief Minister of Punjab in 2021 when no party MLA had supported him. Despite that, he added, every leader and legislator welcomed the party’s decision. 

Replying to a question whether Channi was peddling the BJP agenda and that some BJP leaders had invited him to join the party, the PCC president refused to be drawn into the issue. 

To another question on the U-turn by the AAP government on the issue of missing ‘swaroops’ of the Guru Granth Sahib, Warring said it was not for the first time that the state government had done so. 

“We really don’t know whom to believe, whether the Chief Minister or the Finance Minister, on the issue”, he said. 

About the scheduled meeting of the PCC leaders with the party high command on January 23, he said the agenda will be how to get rid of AAP, how to combat and defeat the polarising politics of the BJP and how to hold Akali Dal to account for the sacrilege cases. 

--IANS 

vg/dan