Back-to-back meetings of Punjab Congress leaders with AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in Delhi on Thursday ended without any indication of an immediate leadership change in the state unit.According to sources, Rahul Gandhi, a former Congress president and currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, did not meet former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi amid the ongoing tussle over the party leadership in Punjab.Venugopal met Channi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Vijay Inder Singla and Pargat Singh separately.Earlier, Channi and Randhawa had met All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala before holding discussions with Venugopal.The sources said Channi told Venugopal that state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had “failed to keep the party united and cautioned that retaining him as the state unit president for the Assembly elections could make the party’s electoral battle more difficult”.After listening to the leaders, Venugopal, while expressing his annoyance over factionalism, is learnt to have told them that the party high command would discuss the issues raised by them.“A clear message was given to the leaders that the party high command was upset with them over the way the factionalism stories that surfaced in the media,” a source said.They have been asked to respect the high command’s authority and wait patiently for the top leadership’s decision. The leaders “appeared” to be satisfied with today’s meeting with Venugopal, the source added. After the meeting, while talking to reporters outside Indira Bhawan, Channi attempted to project unity, saying all leaders remained committed to the Congress and would abide by the party high command’s decision.Will abide by decision: ChanniHe said the leaders had placed their concerns before the leadership, which had heard them patiently, but stressed that the final decision rested with the high command. “Whatever decision they take, we will accept it and move forward accordingly,” he said.Reaffirming his faith in Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, Channi said, “Neither he nor his supporters intended to embarrass the party and that their only objective was to strengthen the Congress in Punjab. “All is well. We are committed to the party. We will follow the party line,” he said.However, sources said Gandhi had so far not agreed to meet Channi. The reluctance is understood to stem from the continuing infighting in the Punjab Congress, where Channi has emerged as one of the leading voices seeking the removal of Raja Warring as the state party chief.Sources said the Congress high command was not inclined to replace Warring, signalling that the present state leadership would continue ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.According to sources, Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary in-charge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel are of the view that replacing the state president under pressure would send a wrong message.The leadership is also understood to be mindful of maintaining the existing caste balance within the state unit, with Warring representing the Jat Sikh community and Channi being the party’s most prominent Dalit face.