Sources further revealed that Ashu had categorically told the party high command that Warring and Bajwa should not campaign for him due to his differences with both top leaders. The resignations reflect the deepening fault lines within the party.The campaign for the Ludhiana (West) by-election was spearheaded by a group of senior leaders, including former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, MLAs Rana Gurjeet Singh and Pargat Singh. Rana is the same leader who had earlier described Warring as a “selfish leader” and had shown a strong interest in becoming the state Congress president.The developments come a day after Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who was appointed working president of the Punjab Congress on April 11, 2022, resigned from his post. He stated, “I take full moral responsibility for this defeat. The state Congress president and the Leader of Opposition were nowhere in the campaign.’’ He added that he had sent his resignation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel.Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said he was not aware of the development as the resignations had not been sent to him. “It is for the party high command to see,” he said.Meanwhile, the tussle between Simarjeet Singh Bains and Bharat Bhushan Ashu has also come out into the open, with Bains calling Ashu “arrogant,” while Ashu responded by saying he did not consider Bains a Congressman.
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