Warring row tests Cong's Dalit pitch amid SC panel move, Channi sulk

New Delhi: There is growing unease in the Congress over the manner Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has landed in yet another row, this time involving the National Commissioner of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) seeking action against him over a pending complaint regarding his alleged derogatory remarks against late Buta Singh, former Union home minister who belonged to the SC community.

The development not only comes in the backdrop of Warring being locked in a messy leadership tussle with former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit face of the party in Punjab, but also ends up projecting a contrast to the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress leadership's bid to weave a pro-Dalit social justice political narrative. It also complicates the bid to build a campaign against the alleged "purification" act in Uttarakhand's Haldwani after party president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there.

While the All India Congress Committee has so far maintained that Warring will stay on as PCC chief despite the infighting involving him, Channi and some others, sections in leadership now appear sceptical in view of the recent developments.


While Warring dismissed the plea before the NCSC as politically motivated, many Congress leaders recognise that the hitherto lingering legal process against Warring has now come under extra glare - and unpredictability - following the NCSC move. Congress' rival parties in Punjab have lapped up the episode to target Warring. The fact that late Congress leader Buta Singh's children are among the complainants before the NCSC against Warring also makes the matter politically delicate.

Such considerations have now prompted some influential Congress leaders to favour reopening the Punjab PCC leadership. Among the names being informally discussed as possible "neutral" standby options is that of AICC joint treasurer Vijay Inder Singla, a former state minister and a Punjabi Hindu.

While many senior Punjab Congress slots are filled up by leaders from the influential Jat Sikh community, the party leadership is also conscious of the electoral importance of the Dalit segments that constitute around one-third of the state's population.

With the BJP making all-out efforts to consolidate the Hindus, who account for nearly 40% of the state population, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the outreach to the influential Dalit Dera heads of Punjab, many Congress leaders are seeking a renewed push to go beyond the status quo in the party's Punjab leadership with a pragmatic pre-poll social balancing act.