Day after Channi’s dharna, Congress postpones July 31 Faridkot protest to August 5; Warring, Baghel to lead joint agitation

A day after former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi led a dharna in front of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) over the alleged paper leak in the Pharmacy Officer recruitment exam, the Faridkot District Congress Committee has decided to postpone its separately scheduled protest. Earlier planned for July 31, it has been postponed to August 5.

The rescheduled agitation will now be jointly led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and All India Congress Committee (AICC) Punjab affairs in-charge Bhupesh Baghel.

The decision comes against the backdrop of visible factionalism within the state Congress unit, with two separate protests having been announced over the alleged cheating scandal in the Pharmacy Officer examination conducted by BFUHS.

On Wednesday, Channi, accompanied by senior party leaders, including former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Kushaldeep Singh “Kiki” Dhillon, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjeet Singh and former MP Mohammad Sadiq, staged a dharna outside BFUHS. Notably, PPCC chief Raja Warring and District Congress Committee (DCC) president Navdeep Singh “Babbu” Brar were absent from the protest, having already planned a separate demonstration for July 31.

Party sources said that, to project a united front and step up pressure on the state government, the leadership decided to defer the July 31 protest so that the top central and state leadership could join hands for a single, larger demonstration in Faridkot on August 5.

Addressing Wednesday’s gathering, Channi alleged that the pharmacy exam controversy was not an isolated case of cheating or a paper leak but part of a systemic conspiracy to sell government jobs. He accused the AAP government of favouring select candidates by enabling unfair practices in competitive examinations.

He promised that, once the Congress returned to power in Punjab, a comprehensive Vigilance Bureau probe would be ordered into all recruitment irregularities under the present government.

Channi also targeted the AAP administration over the recent lathi-charges on protesting farmers, government employees and sanitation workers. He said the state had failed to frame a coherent mining policy during its four-and-a-half years in office.