After Tarn Taran loss, Punjab Congress chief quells 'divided house' speculation

Chandigarh, Nov 15 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday scoffed at the speculation that the party leadership was divided in the state and said it has been an old "election-time narrative".

"The party remains united and together in Punjab, and the unity was best exhibited during the Tarn Taran by-election," Warring said in a statement here.

His statement came a day after the Congress faced a humiliating defeat in the assembly bypoll. The party candidate in Tarn Taran lost his security deposit, while the AAP candidate, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, scored a decisive victory.

Warring stated that the party was up against all odds in Tarn Taran. He also noted that the constituency's core voter base is 'panthic' and the Congress has won this seat only once in past several decades.

Besides, he added, it was faced with a "hostile" administration and police, "unabashedly siding with the ruling party candidate”.

"Despite that, our workers put up a brave fight under a united leadership," he said, while asking, "Name a single leader who did not campaign for the party in Tarn Taran.” Warring asserted that the bypoll result is not a referendum on anyone, neither the government nor the Congress, as "everyone knows how the Aam Aadmi Party has been manipulating and misusing the official machinery to win the by-elections in the state".

He said, "The party will be examining all aspects, not about Tarn Taran only, but the entire state as we are gearing up for the big fight in 2027." On the speculation that Congress is a "divided house", Warring said, it is a perennial election-time narrative that is “always woven about the Congress ahead of elections”.

"Just go through the news reports ahead of previous elections right from 1997 onwards and you will always find such reports that the Congress is divided, while actually it never has been," he claimed, asserting that when it comes to fighting elections, "all the leaders set aside their personal differences, if any, to ensure the party's victory".

"Don't judge the Congress based on the by-election results," he appealed to people in general and the media in particular, and added, "If you have to judge us, look at the 2024 general elections, when Congress won seven of the 13 constituencies while the AAP could win just three." "Let me assure and guarantee you, we will massively improve the performance in the 2027 assembly elections," he said. PTI CHS PRK PRK