Warring Punjab Congress Leaders' Secret Peace Meet In Delhi, Designed By Poll Strategist

Congress has roped in poll strategist Naresh Arora to bring the warring factions of its Punjab unit together ahead of the Assembly polls.

NDTV has learnt that Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Raja Warring and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi are trying to reconcile differences, with Naresh Arora playing a key role in the efforts.

According to sources, Channi and Warring held a secret meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, which MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also attended.

This was the first time that Channi and Warring held formal talks after the announcement of the new Punjab Congress team ahead of the assembly elections.

While details of the meeting are not yet out, sources claimed that things are moving in the right direction.

When asked about the meeting, Warring denied it, while Arora also chose not to respond.

Naresh Arora's Design Boxed worked on Congress Punjab campaign in 2017

On July 1, the Congress leadership decided to continue with Warring as the state president. Channi was given charge of the campaign committee and Randhawa was made the head of the core committee. But several Punjab Congress MLAs and former candidates, led by Channi and Randhawa, opened a front to remove Warring.

To douse the fire, Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel camped in Chandigarh for a week. Organisation general secretary KC Venugopal then called angry leaders, including Channi and Randhawa, to Delhi and advised them to maintain discipline. Following this, Channi declared that he was with the decision of the party high command.

Later, all senior leaders of the Punjab Congress attended a meeting called by Venugopal at the party headquarters, "Indira Bhavan". Channi and Warring sat side by side and the party claimed that the dispute had been resolved.

But according to informed sources, Channi and Warring are not even on talking terms and the truce looks more like a photo-op.

On Monday, Punjab Congress MPs led by Warring staged a protest in the Parliament House complex demanding the resignation of the state education minister. Channi and Randhawa were missing from the protest.

Now the party appears to have brought in election strategist Naresh Arora to iron out differences between the leaders.

Arora's DesignBoxed had worked on the Congress' Punjab campaign in 2017. However, this time Sunil Kanugolu is managing the Congress campaign in Punjab.

Naresh Arora's DesignBoxed handled the Congress election campaign in the last Karnataka Assembly elections. There too, the tussle between state president DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah was an issue, just like the Warring-Channi war today.

Arora had then managed to bring Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah together. Congress released a video of the two leaders in an intimate, casual conversation just before voting. The result: Congress won.

Will Naresh Arora prove to be the troubleshooter for Congress in Punjab that the party desperately needs? The outcome of the "secret meeting" in South Delhi may hold the answer.