Be team players, or else sit in reserves: Rahul to Punjab Cong leaders amid infighting reports

Barnala (Punjab), Feb 28 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday warned party leaders that they will be made to sit in the reserves if they can not become team players.

His statement comes in the context of the infighting among Punjab Congress leaders seen in the past.

Asserting that a single player can not win a match, Gandhi underscored the importance of teamwork and said no matter how big a leader may be, "no one is bigger than the party".

With Punjab going to polls early next year, Gandhi also said that workers are supreme in the party and all decisions will be made by taking them along.

Gandhi was addressing the 'Kisan Mahachaupal' rally here in the politically significant Malwa belt of the state, which houses 69 of the 117 assembly seats in the state.

Senior Congress leaders from Punjab, including state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, former chief ministers Charanjit Singh Channi and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and senior leader Vijay Inder Singla, were present.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders K C Venugopal and Bhupesh Baghel also attended the event.

Concluding his address, Gandhi, in an apparent reference to the party's state unit, said, "I also want to give a message to the Congress party that work is done through teamwork. One player cannot win a match. We have the entire team sitting here." "From Kharge ji and me, I want to give this message that become a team player or else we will make you sit as a reserve player," he said.

"No matter how big (a leader) you may be, no one is bigger than the party. Become team player and if you do not become one, then I and Kharge ji will set you right," he said.

Punjab goes to the polls in early 2027 and the Congress is seeking to wrest the state back from AAP in the next election.

Notably, the Congress last month gave a stern warning to its leaders in the state, asking them not to make any statements in public on internal matters or against each other.

The warning came from the top party leadership at a strategic meeting on Punjab after reports of conflict among state leaders.

It was also conveyed at the meeting that there will be no leadership change in the state, and the party high command would soon decide on candidate selection and campaigning.

Meanwhile, during his address here, Gandhi said, "Punjab is our strength. When I visit the state, I enjoy coming here because I can see India's strength, its foundation here." "You are our protector, our foundation, and we love you. Don't forget this. Politics and other things are at their place, but don't forget that I love people of Punjab... If I write a book, I will tell you in depth," he said.

"We have to make the future of Punjab's people, its farmers and its youth bright, and we have to make the state successful," he added. PTI CHS PRK