Poor performance of Cong candidate in Tarn Taran bypoll sparks dissent within party ranks

The poor performance of Congress candidate Karanbir Singh Burj in the Tarn Taran by-election has triggered widespread discussion across the constituency, with many party workers expressing disappointment.

Karanbir Singh finished in fourth place, securing only around 15,000 votes, compared to the more than 42,000 votes polled by the winning Aam Aadmi Party candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu. He also failed to save his security deposit. Although Tarn Taran is known for its Panthic background, Congress candidate Dr Dharamvir Agnihotri had won the seat in the 2017 elections.

When contacted, Karanbir Singh admitted he had not expected such a poor result. While refraining from giving detailed reasons for the defeat, he said the party suffered because most workers had dispersed after the 2024 elections and no leader had been appointed as the Halqa (constituency) in-charge.

He said the party must work harder in the future. Similar views were shared by former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Gurbaz Singh Gill, who blamed the leadership’s failure to appoint a constituency in-charge as a major factor behind the setback. He added that the late announcement of the Congress candidate, in contrast to other parties, also contributed to the poor outcome. With more than five aspirants seeking the ticket, he said, those who were denied nominations did not campaign wholeheartedly for Karanbir Singh.

Gill added that one senior leader even quit the party mid-campaign after failing to secure the ticket. Another aspirant, Avtar Singh Taneja of Tarn Taran town, said he too had not expected such a humiliating defeat. He attributed the setback partly to the candidate being a new face, and partly to the long-standing absence of a constituency in-charge, which led many party workers—especially in Tarn Taran city, home to about 55,000 voters—to drift to rival parties.

Taneja said comments made by state party president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring regarding former Union Minister Buta Singh further weakened the party’s standing within the SC community. Political expert Advocate Stalinjit Singh Sandhu said the party’s weak organisational structure at the grassroots, poor public connect and the lack of an established leader in the area were key reasons for the loss. He added that internal factionalism continues to drag the party down.