The Muktsar district unit of the Congress has expelled a municipal councillor and targeted two other leaders for alleged anti-party activities and public remarks against the leadership, deepening internal divisions in the home district of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
Disciplinary Action Against Three Leaders
District Congress Committee (DCC) president Shubhdeep Singh Bittu issued a letter accusing the leaders of making remarks against AICC Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel, tarnishing the party’s image and amounting to serious indiscipline. The DCC expelled sitting municipal councillor Gurmeet Singh Jeeta from primary membership, alleging he made baseless allegations against Baghel. It also accused Paramjit Singh Billu of working against the Congress candidate during the last Lok Sabha elections and later supporting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in recent municipal council elections. The letter claimed Billu was not even a primary member of the Congress. Mohkam Singh Sandhu was declared a non-member, with the district leadership citing his social media activity and photographs as evidence of alleged association with the AAP.
Leaders Deny Allegations
Bittu said, "They had made anti-party statements, so action was necessary." All three leaders belong to the camp of former Muktsar MLA Karan Kaur Brar. Responding to the action, Billu stated, "I am not a part of Raja Congress, but I will always remain in the Congress." Jeeta maintained that he and several others had resigned from the party in 2023. He claimed that despite this, the Congress fielded him in the municipal council elections, which he won. "It doesn’t matter what Bittu has written in his letter," he said. Sandhu also rejected the allegations, saying, "I never held any post in the party and I was never a part of the Raja Congress."
Deepening Factional Divide
The rift within the district unit came to the fore during the Maghi Mela in January this year when former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi visited Billu’s residence and held a meeting there without informing Warring. The meeting was attended by Karan Kaur Brar, two former ministers, and several former MLAs, exposing the deepening factional divide within the district Congress. Karan Kaur Brar, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar, has already accused Raja Warring of deepening divisions within the party.
