Warring Meets Rahul Gandhi, Formally Submits Resignation as Punjab Congress Chief

Amarinder Singh Raja Warring met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at 10 Janpath in New Delhi on Friday and formally handed in his resignation as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, closing a four-year tenure at the head of the state unit and setting off a full-scale succession race ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.

The 10 Janpath meeting

Warring travelled to Delhi on Thursday evening and met Gandhi on Friday morning, along with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal. Before heading into the meeting, he told reporters, "I am going to meet the boss. I have always said what's in my heart to Rahul ji," according to news agency ANI.

Afterwards, Warring said the meeting was warm. "He (Rahul) gave me a lot of love. He sought information about the situation in Punjab, what is happening with the government, and what we should do. I shared with him my four-and-a-half years of experience as the state president... How we have to fight those challenges, and where our strengths are. There was this entire discussion with him," he told the media, as reported by IANS.

Warring also said he had decided on his own to step aside. "I knew I would not be asked to resign, but I submitted a formal resignation anyway," he said, adding that Gandhi embraced him during their interaction. Gandhi is now expected to consult Warring on the choice of the next state chief, before a broader discussion with Kharge and Sachin Pilot, the AICC in-charge for Punjab.

Pilot's feedback and the Channi question

Asked whether pressure from the high command had pushed him out, Warring said he had no information on that front, but did not hide his view that the feedback of AICC in-charge Sachin Pilot may have played a part. "Sachin Pilot became the in-charge on the 5th and came to Punjab for just two hours to attend a protest. Today is the 2nd, and he has not returned since then," Warring said. "Sachin must have given some feedback, I think. I cannot confirm this, but I feel that... the leadership may have taken it into account," he said.

Warring also addressed his equation with former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, with whom his camp has had a long-running tussle. "I have won elections as many times as he has. He is not senior to me. I respect him because he has been our Chief Minister. Whoever the party appoints to a position gets to hold it," he said.

Succession race wide open

The Congress leadership has not formally named a successor. Party sources say the high command has been holding consultations with state leaders to heal internal differences and strengthen the organisation ahead of the 2027 polls. Names in the reckoning include former minister Vijay Inder Singla and former Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana K.P. Singh, with insiders suggesting the leadership may break from the conventional choice of a Jat Sikh face.

Warring, the sitting MP from Ludhiana, had signalled his exit publicly on Thursday by updating his social media bio to "Former PPCC President". He took over the state unit in April 2022 after the party's defeat to the AAP, and his departure marks the biggest organisational shake-up in the Punjab Congress in four years.

Read also: Raja Warring Resigns as Punjab Congress President Amid Infighting and Vijay Inder Singla Tipped to Replace Raja Warring as Punjab Congress Chief.