Infighting Again In Punjab Congress, Posters Against Leaders Surface In Muktsar

Fresh signs of factionalism within the Punjab Congress have become evident as posters and hoardings targeting Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and the party's Punjab affairs in-charge Bhupesh Baghel mushroomed in Sri Muktsar Sahib ahead of a key workers' meeting.The meeting, organised by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, was to be held at 3 pm today  in Sri Muktsar Sahib, the hometown of Raja Warring. Raja Warring and Bhupesh Baghel are expected to address party workers as the Congress steps up preparations for the Punjab Assembly elections next year. But before the leaders could arrive, posters carrying slogans against the current state leadership appeared across the city. The posters openly criticised Raja Warring and Bhupesh Baghel while backing former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi -- reflecting the continuing factional divide within the state unit.The development comes amid the Punjab Congress's efforts to project unity after internal disagreements over leadership, organisational appointments and the strategy for the coming assembly election. While the Central leadership has repeatedly called for cohesion, differences between various camps have continued to surface at regular intervals.Party insiders said on condition of anonymity that the appearance of these posters ahead of an important organisational meeting is likely to embarrass the party leadership and overshadow the message of unity the Congress intends to convey to its workers. The Congress leadership is yet to respond to the posters, barring remarks that the incident is "unfortunate".Gurdaspur MLA Brindermeet Singh Phara told NDTV: "I condemn such acts if any Congress worker has done it. But at the same time, if any miscreant had posted such posters, what can I say about it?"Congress MLA Pargat Singh said efforts to focus on poll strategy for Punjab will not serve any purpose if infighting keeps happening. In a dig at the Congress, BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma said: "It seems the Congress is concerned about the party's internal issues and not about Punjab".