Punjab Congress rift widens after Ludhiana bypoll loss: Ashu, 2 others step down; 'all resignations accepted'

Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the Congress' Pudhiana West bypoll candidate, stepped down from the PPCC executive after the loss.

The divide within the Punjab unit of the Congress party deepened on Thursday as the party high command accepted the resignations of three of its office-bearers, including Ludhiana West bypoll candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, from the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee executive.

Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who served as the working president, assumed full responsibility of his defeat to Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sanjeev Arora in the recent by-election. Ashu lost the election to Arora by over 10,000 votes following a campaign that many within the party see as an outcome of factionalism, internal bickering and one-upmanship.

While Ashu stepped down after the results taking the responsibility for his own defeat, two other MLAs who served as PPCC vice-presidents and were seen as his close aides -- Pargat Singh and Kushaldeep Singh Kikki Dhillon -- also resigned in a show of solidarity.

The resignations were confirmed by AICC in-charge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel in a post on X. "All three resignations have been accepted. The party expresses its gratitude for the services of all three leaders in their respective roles and wishes them a bright future," Baghel said in his post.

The high-profile exits following the party's divided campaign in Ludhiana has heightened concerns over the Congress' prospects in the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2027. The developments also signals a deepening divide within the state unit with fears that it may only widen as polls draw closer.

The Congress' campaign for the by-elections in Ludhiana was marked by a visible factional war between Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Ashu. The rift between the two sides was visible in the campaign as several star campaigners, including Warring and Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa, stayed away.

"Many of those who did not participate in Ashu's campaign later claimed that they were never invited for the campaign. "We were signalled our participation wasn’t required," a local leader told The Indian Express.

Among those missing were PPCC general secretary Captain Sandeep Sandhu, Ludhiana district urban president Sanjay Talwar, former MLAs Rakesh Pandey, Jassi Khangura, Surinder Dawar, ex-bureaucrat Kuldip Singh Vaid, and “Bains brothers”- former MLAs Simarjeet and Balwinder Bains, who had joined Congress during 2024 Lok Sabha polls and support Warring who had contested from Ludhiana and won.

On the other hand, those who campaigned for Ashu included Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh (bypoll in-charge), Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh, former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Fatehgarh Sahib MP Dr Amar Singh, Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma and Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi.

While several leaders have gone on record to claim that they stayed away from the campaign because they were never invited, Ashu and leaders close to him maintain that they never stopped anyone from participating.

"Everyone was welcome to campaign wherever they wanted. It was Warring’s responsibility to come as state president," he said.

Warring, reacting to the defeat and resignations, said: "I went to campaign wherever I was called. I will continue to fulfil my duties as PPCC president."

A senior Congress leader, however, said that the resignations of Ashu and others was accepted on account of the "highest degree of indiscipline" displayed by them by not attending a press conference jointly addressed by Baghel, Warring and Bajwa in Ludhiana on June 16, a day before the campaigning for the bypoll had ended.

In a tit for tat, Warring also did not attend Ashu's roadshow on the last day of the campaigning even as he was in the city, and said he was "never invited".