Raja Warring-Charanjit Channi tug of war set to play out in Punjab Youth Congress poll

The tug of war between Punjab Congress factions – one led by PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and the other by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi — is set to play out in the coming election to the Punjab Youth Congress.

Party insiders said that Warring on Sunday held a meeting with some close party leaders to discuss the names of the presidential candidates with the broad outline of fielding a non-Jat face.

Fielding a non-Jat face will correct the narrative of Jats enjoying the top positions in the party, resulting in inadequate representation to SC, BCs and Hindus.

Warring said the election process is being conducted as per the rules and regulations and he was not interfering in it. Though it is learnt that the leaders would organise another meeting to finalise the name, the name of Shuvam Sharma, presently general secretary of the Youth Congress, is among the front-runners. The criteria for the Youth Congress president is that the candidate has to be a high-performer.

The development comes a day after the other faction led by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi fielded Gagandeep Jalalpur, son of former Ganaur MLA Madan Lala Jalalpur. The last date for filing nominations is January 23.

Through the Youth Congress elections, both the groups will convey their acceptance and dominance in the party’s rank and file. Till the results are not announced, Mohit Mohindra will continue to be the Youth Congress president.

In yesterday meeting of the SC Cell, Channi had reportedly raised the issue of due representation to the SC and other backward classes (OBCs). Barring the Punjab Youth Congress president, the other top positions like the PPCC chief, CLP Leader, NSUI president, Punjab women wing president are all held by Jat faces.

“The Youth Congress election has once again raked up the discussion on bringing non-Jat faces on top positions and break the narrative of the Jat community being annoyed in the event of a non-Jat face being given responsibility. We need to see what our main contenders — AAP, SAD and BJP — are doing in the name of social engineering,” said a senior leader seeking anonymity.

A section of leaders has been regularly flagging that in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly election, the political matrix of two Jat leaders — Warring and CLP Leader Partap Singh Bajwa — would have to re-worked by adjusting Dalit, OBC and Hindu leaders. With this issue on the agenda, the leaders are likely to meet top party leaders in Delhi in the coming days.