Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 6 : All India Congres Committee (AICC)'s General Secretary in charge of Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel, on Monday arrived in Chandigarh to hold key discussions with party leaders in the State, which is heading into Assembly elections next year.
On his arrival in Chandigarh, Baghel received a warm welcome from party workers, including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who was also present to welcome the veteran leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister.
"I am in Punjab on a five-day visit...There will be meetings of the various committees that have been formed...We are all geared up for the state elections..." Baghel told reporters.
Further, he said, "...I will have discussions with the party leaders and chair meetings."
Meanwhile, sources told ANI that several leaders allying with former Chief Minister Channi are reportedly leaving for New Delhi to seek a meeting with the Congress high command and will not attend the meeting convened by Bhupesh Baghel.
This comes days after the Congress retained Warring as its State unit chief and Partap Singh Bajwa as Leader of the Opposition (Congress Legislative Party) in the Punjab Legislative Party.
Warring told reporters today, "...The Congress party is united...Every worker of the party is working to ensure that the party forms the government in Punjab in the next elections...Charanjit Singh Channi, along with other senior leaders of the party, will stand united on a common platform in the coming times."
Bajwa also told reporters today, "The entire party stands with the decisions of the party high command. Yes, there are certain problems which will be sorted out...I am in touch with all the groups...We will sort out the differences...We will fight the state elections unitedly..."
Earlier today, senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa shared a photograph online featuring former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi alongside other leaders.
Those featured in the photograph included MLAs Barindermeet Singh Pahra, Pargat Singh, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and election committee co-chairpersons Razia Sultana and former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, among others.
Prominent absentees in the picture included PPCC chief Warring, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa and MLA Sukhpal Khaira.
Randhawa shared the photograph on social media platform X with the pointed caption: "Unity is strength." The photograph was then shared by Charanjit Channi as well. The same photo was also shared by Warring under the same caption "Unity is Strength."
Channi had said last week in a post on X that the Congress party leadership had urged him "to present the sentiments and aspirations of the people of Punjab before the High Command."
He had convened a meeting at his home in Morinda on Friday, which saw attendance by several leaders, including stalwarts like Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who demanded that Channi be appointed the state Congress chief, replacing the incumbent Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
Channi's supporters called on the party high command to reconsider the recently announced organisational appointments in Punjab, asserting that Congress would return to power under Channi's leadership.