Cong ‘factionalism’ out in the open

In the run up to the high-stakes Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll, scheduled on June 19, deep-rooted “factionalism” in the Congress has come to the fore — much to the advantage of its political rivals.

The schism within the party was quite evident yesterday when two separate press conferences, one by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and the other by party candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, were held within a span of one hour.

The venue of both the press conferences — Hotel Park Plaza and party’s election office on Ferozepur Road — was just 100 metres away from each other.

While Ashu was accompanied by Congress election in-charge Rana Gurjeet Singh and MLA Pargat Singh, PCC chief Warring was accompanied by former MLAs, including DCC head Sanjeev Talwar.

Party insiders said Ashu was reluctant to share the stage with Warring due to differences with him and his supporters.

Despite Warring being Ludhiana MP, Ashu has reportedly written to party high command that he does not want PCC chief to campaign for him.

Party insiders said factionalism could harm electoral prospects of Ashu, who is considered to be on a firm footing, giving run for the money to his rivals.

The factionalism came out with the rejoining of two former leaders Kamaljeet Singh Karwal and Karan Warring. Both had left the Congress and joined the BJP. Karwal even joined AAP and had contested the 2022 Assembly poll on the Congress ticket from Atam Nagar.

Former MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains took offence to Karwal’s joining the Congress, since he’s a claimant of party ticket from here. Bains said Ashu deliberately made Karwal join Congress to create a rival for him.

Earlier, Both Ashu and Bains enjoyed good relationship. It’s evident from the fact that when Bains faced rape charges, Ashu, who was a minister then, was accused of helping

the former.

During the 2024 General Elections, Warring helped Bains to get into the Congress — much to the annoyance of Ashu.