Pro‑Channi chants echo through Barnala Congress rally amid growing party infighting

On a breezy Saturday afternoon, a crowd of Congress loyalists gathered at the historic municipal school in Barnala, Punjab, to hear senior leaders outline the party’s strategy for the upcoming local elections. What many attendees expected to be a routine rally quickly turned into a vocal display of loyalty to former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

As the microphone was handed over to a local party organizer, a chant rose from the front rows – “Channi Zindabad! Channi Zindabad!” The slogan, repeated several times, was met with enthusiastic claps and whistles, turning the modest venue into a mini‑stadium of support.

While the chants themselves were not unprecedented – Channi has retained a strong base in parts of Punjab since his brief tenure as chief minister – the timing could not have been more charged. In recent weeks, the Punjab Congress has been wrestling with an internal power struggle, pitting the Channi faction against a group of senior leaders who have questioned his leadership style and electoral prospects.

“We are here to reaffirm our faith in Channi’s vision for Punjab,” said Amarjit Singh, a youth leader who addressed the crowd after the chanting subsided. “The party must stand united, but unity does not mean silencing honest voices.” His words were punctuated by a mix of applause and murmurs, a subtle reminder that not everyone in the room shares the same enthusiasm.

Veteran Congress figure and former MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu, was absent from the Barnala program, fueling speculation that the party’s senior echelons are deliberately keeping a low profile while the internal tug‑of‑war plays out behind closed doors. Sources close to the party suggest that Sidhu and a few other senior leaders are keen on reshaping the state leadership, possibly sidelining Channi’s influence.

Adding to the intrigue, a senior party official who preferred to stay anonymous disclosed that the Barnala rally was originally slated to focus on developmental issues – irrigation, health, and education – but the spontaneous emergence of the pro‑Channi chants shifted the tone of the event.

Opposition parties seized on the episode, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) issuing a statement that described the rally as “a spectacle of internal disarray, where slogans mask deeper leadership crises.” Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) mocked the Congress for “playing political musical chairs instead of delivering on promises.”

For the ordinary voter in Barnala, the spectacle might seem distant from everyday concerns, yet it underscores a broader narrative: the Congress, once a monolithic force in Punjab, is now navigating a labyrinth of competing ambitions. Whether the chants for Channi will translate into electoral advantage or further fragment the party remains an open question.

As the rally wound down, organizers promised more meetings across the district, hoping to channel the energy of the chants into tangible campaign work. In the words of a young volunteer, “We’re here, we’re loud, and we’ll keep fighting – for Channi, for Congress, and for Punjab.”