Raghbir Singh Brar
Faridkot
August 16, 2026
Factionalism in the Punjab Congress spilled into the open on Saturday at Isru, as Gurdaspur MP and former Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa directly challenged state party president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring over ticket distribution for the upcoming elections.
Speaking at a party function, Randhawa invoked the legacy of slain former Chief Minister Beant Singh to assert his faction’s credentials.
“We do not need to get any certificate of being a Congressman,” he said, in an apparent reference to Warring’s repeated mentions of Beant Singh as a “mass leader” in his speeches.
The sharpest attack came on the issue of tickets. Targeting Warring, Randhawa said, “They say that they will give only one ticket from a family. We say that we shall get them four, if they are able to win and bring Congress to victory.”
Warring, in recent public meetings, has also been critical of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, alleging that he weakened the party.
Randhawa countered him by frequently referring to the Beant Singh family’s contribution in restoring peace in Punjab during the 1990s.
The former Home Minister also traced the history of groupism in the Punjab Congress back to the eras of former Chief Ministers Giani Zail Singh and Darbara Singh.
“There has always been groupism in the party,” he admitted. But he quickly added, “On the stage, Congress is united.”Randhawa reserved strong words for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party as well.
He called Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “a liar” and threw a direct challenge: “Let him touch any Congressman.”
Drawing a historical parallel, he claimed the Congress would “sweep AAP out,” just as freedom fighter Karnail Singh Isru had fought to throw the French out of Goa in 1955.
The rally, held in the name of allegedly organizational unity, instead highlighted the widening gap between the two dominant camps in the state unit — one led by Warring, and the other seen to be aligned with Randhawa and other senior leaders.
Question of High Command
Amid the war of words between the two warring factions,a larger organizational question is there: “Where is the national high command of the party?”Going by the tradition, tickets are usually distributed by the central high command in Delhi, not by the state leadership alone.
So while Bhupesh Baghel ,the in charge of Punjab affairs of the congress party and the national general secretary of the party was all time present along with Raja warring, it is questioable weather warring faction carry more weights that Channi led faction.
The comment of both Raja Warring and Randhawa are significant as the party prepares for key electoral battles, with ticket aspirants already lobbying both in Chandigarh and Delhi. With no clear word from the AICC so far, the vacuum at the top has allowed state-level friction to grow.
Congress at Crossroads
Punjab Congress has struggled to present a united face since the 2022 assembly defeat and the exit of Captain Amarinder Singh.
While Warring has been projecting a new leadership style and invoking Beant Singh’s legacy to connect with workers, leaders like Randhawa are pushing back, demanding a bigger say in candidate selection and strategy.Saturday’s remarks show that the battle is no longer behind closed doors. With both sides claiming to represent the “real Congress” and both invoking Punjab’s history of sacrifice, the party risks public perception of disunity at a time when it is trying to take on an entrenched AAP government.
Whether the national leadership steps in to referee the fight will decide if the Congress in Punjab heads to the next election as one unit, or as rival factions sharing the same flag.