Latest news with #Karwal
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘A dyed in wool third generation Congressman': Warring re-inducts Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Chaudhary into party
A little over a year after Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary was suspended from the Congress over 'indiscipline' and 'anti-party activities', state party chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring revoked his suspension and re-inducted him into the party during the 'Samwidhan Bachao' (Save the Constitution) rally in Dakha on Monday. The son of late Santok Singh Chaudhary — a veteran Congress leader and former Jalandhar Lok Sabha MP — Vikramjit was suspended from Congress in a run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after he had objected to the Lok Sabha candidature of Charanjit Singh Channi from Jalandhar. Chaudhary instead wanted the ticket for his mother Karamjit Kaur, who had also contested the 2023 bypoll but lost to the then AAP's Sushil Kumar Rinku. After the party fielded Channi from Jalandhar in 2024, Chaudhary had rebelled and called Channi 'Shakuni Mama', referring to the Mahabharata. Addressing the Monday rally, Warring along with senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa welcomed Chaudhary back to the party. 'We are glad that our colleague and the Phillaur MLA is back with us. He is a dyed in wool third generation Congressman,' Warring said. 'His homecoming will definitely strengthen the party. United we stand, stronger and stronger.' This came just a day after Punjab Congress's working president and Ludhiana West bypoll candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and Channi and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh made Kamaljit Singh Karwal rejoin the party on Sunday. Notably, during Karwal's joining, Warring and Randhawa were missing from the event in Ludhiana. Karwal had left Congress following the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, after losing on Congress ticket from Ludhiana's Atam Nagar seat. He later joined BJP and AAP, before returning to Congress on Sunday. Last year however, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Warring contested from Ludhiana and won the seat, Karwal's bete noire — former MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains and his elder brother Balwinder Singh Bains — had also joined Congress in Warring's presence, as well as merged their Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) with Congress. After Karwal rejoined Congress, Bains expressed his displeasure and said the 'party protocol was not followed in his joining, as the state chief (Warring) was absent from the event'. Warring also expressed dissatisfaction over Karwal's re-induction into the party by Ashu and his supporters, saying he has flagged this to Congress General Secretary Bhupesh Baghel. Ashu has, however, hit back, saying he is the working president of Punjab Congress and re-inducted Karwal into the party 'only after taking Baghel's permission'.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
SAD, Cong, BJP, AAP: Kamaljit Karwal jumps ship again ahead of Ludhiana West bypoll
Kamaljit Singh Karwal from Ludhiana has perhaps made the term 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' seem feeble, if his political career is anything to go by. Ahead of the June 19 Ludhiana West bypoll, Karwal once again jumped ship Sunday and re-joined the Congress. This is Karwal's sixth switch — from SAD, Congress, BJP, AAP and now back to the Congress — all in a little over a decade. Joining the party in the presence of Congress' bypoll candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh, Karwal said, 'Outraged by the anti-people policies of the AAP government, and their indifference towards Punjabis, I have done aghar waapsi today.' Elected an independent councillor in 2007 and then on SAD symbol in 2012, Karwal was once the right hand man of two-time former Atam Nagar MLA and SAD rebel Simarjeet Singh Bains. He left SAD along with Bains after they formed their own political group. However, Karwal's relations with Bains soured and he was again back to SAD in January 2015 in the presence of then deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. In December 2016, ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, Karwal joined Congress in the presence of former CM Captain Amarinder Singh. He then contested assembly elections from Atam Nagar twice on Congress ticket — in 2017 and 2022— and lost both. In both contests, he was pitted against his bete noire Simarjeet Singh Bains. While in 2017 Bains won, in 2022 both Bains and Karwal lost to AAP's Kulwant Singh Sidhu. Later, in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Karwal quit Congress and switched to BJP. He joined BJP in the presence of state president Sunil Jakhar in Chandigarh in December 2023, and said that he left Congress due ' to poor leadership at all levels, policies and highhandedness in the party'. Karwal then moved to the AAP in December 2024, and was 'welcomed' into the party by state president Aman Arora at Chandigarh. Now when he is back to Congress, the 'Bains brothers' — Simarjeet and his elder brother (also an ex-MLA) Balwinder Singh Bains — are also in Congress. Last year, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, they had merged their Lok Insaaf Party with the Congress. However, when Karwal 're-joined' Congress in the presence of Ashu, both Bains brothers were missing from the event, and so was Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring who had inducted Bains brothers into the party last year. Asked why he keeps switching parties, Karwal said: 'Congress is like a family for me and fights keep happening in a family. I had joined BJP but realized that it doesn't have any future in Punjab. No matter how hard they try, they can never form government in Punjab. I have no issues with Bains brothers being in Congress. We all will work for the party as per assigned duties.' Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Karwal calls Congress his home once again
Local politician Kamaljit Singh Karwal returned to the Congress party for the second time, after hopping between six different political platforms in the last 16 years. His latest homecoming was made official on Sunday in the presence of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and senior Congress leaders including Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Rana Gurjeet Singh. Karwal, who last held affiliation with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), declared his return to Congress as an emotional 'ghar wapsi' (homecoming), saying the Congress is where he truly belongs. He claimed his decision was fuelled by frustration with AAP's alleged 'anti-people policies' and disregard for Punjabi interests. His political journey, however, paints a picture of a restless career marked by frequent realignments. Karwal's six-party trajectory includes stints with Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AAP, and now again Congress. He was elected a councillor in 2007 as an independent and in 2012 on the SAD ticket. Initially a close aide of SAD rebel Simarjeet Singh Bains. Karwal and Bains left SAD and formed LIP, but he parted ways and rejoined SAD in 2015, only to switch to Congress in 2016 before the 2017 Assembly polls. Karwal contested twice from Atam Nagar as a Congress candidate—both times unsuccessfully. In 2017, he lost to Bains, and in 2022, both Bains and Karwal lost to AAP's Kulwant Singh Sidhu. In December 2023, ahead of the 2024 general elections, Karwal exited Congress, citing internal mismanagement and leadership issues, and joined BJP. Within a year, he left BJP for AAP, welcomed by state AAP president Aman Arora. His latest return to Congress makes it his sixth political shift. Divided welcome exposes factions Interestingly, Karwal's old rival former MLAs Simarjeet Singh Bains and his brother Balwinder Singh Bains had also joined Congress, merging their LIP into the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, the Bains brothers were conspicuously absent at Karwal's re-induction event, as was Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who had welcomed Bains brothers into the party fold last year. This absence signals lingering tensions beneath the surface, though Karwal tried to downplay them. 'Congress is like a family to me. Fights happen in every family. I'm ready to work with everyone for the growth of the party,' he said, when asked about working alongside the Bains brothers. He also remarked that BJP has 'no future in Punjab' and despite aggressive campaigning, 'can never form a government in the state'. He admitted he made a mistake joining the saffron party and quickly corrected the course.
