Pargat Singh replaces Raja Warring as Punjab Congress president ahead of 2027 polls

Chandigarh : The Congress on Friday handed the Punjab unit to Jalandhar Cantonment MLA and former India hockey captain Pargat Singh, elevating a leader who spent the past year campaigning against the man he replaces.

The release issued by AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the appointment takes effect immediately, and thanked outgoing president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Working presidents and the election committee chairpersons named in July stay on.

The pick is a double surprise. Former minister Vijay Inder Singla, a Hindu face, had been the frontrunner for two days. And Pargat Singh is no neutral choice — he sat at Charanjit Singh Channi’s Morinda residence in July demanding Warring’s exit, and was at the Mohali meeting where dissidents resolved to boycott the then chief’s programmes. In June, after the Ludhiana (West) bypoll defeat, he quit as working president along with Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Kushaldeep Dhillon.

Behind the decision is Sachin Pilot, who took over as AICC Punjab in-charge last month and has since got the factions to agree to fight 2027 under collective leadership, with no declared CM face.

Pargat Singh, 61, played three Olympics and led India at Barcelona and Atlanta. A Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee, he was state sports director before joining the Akali Dal in 2012, was suspended in 2016, floated Awaaz-e-Punjab with Navjot Sidhu, and has held his seat three times. He was education and sports minister under Channi.

His comfort zone is clear: Channi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rana Gurjit Singh and Ashu, with Partap Bajwa cordial. Friction will come from Warring’s Malwa loyalists and a passed-over Singla. The presidency has also shifted from Malwa to Doaba.