Warring out, why Congress chose Pargat Singh to lead Punjab unit
Months before the Assembly elections, the Congress on Friday appointed a new state unit president in Punjab, hoping to finally put a debilitating factional feud behind it.
The party appointed former Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, hours after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring resigned from the post. After handing over his resignation to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, Warring blamed All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot for the change. “I think that the new general secretary thought it best to remove me (chhutti kar deni chahiye),” he said.
This marks the culmination of a months-long battle for control of Punjab Congress between Warring, the Ludhiana MP, and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the Jalandhar MP. Channi was angling for the post but ultimately had to reach a compromise and agree to the high command’s decision to promote Pargat Singh, who has been the MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment since 2012.
The sense in the high command was that almost the entire top state leadership was at odds with Warring. That is why it did not act on the Ajay Maken committee’s recommendations for a leadership change. A large section of the party, both in Delhi and Punjab, felt that Warring continued to hold on to the post because of support from Bhupesh Baghel, who was Pilot’s predecessor as AICC state in-charge.
However, once Baghel — who faced pushback from the Channi camp — was replaced last month, it became apparent that Warring’s time at the helm of the state Congress was nearing its end, sources said.
Sources said the feedback Pilot received from leaders, including those considered close to Warring, was that he would not be able to inspire confidence among a large section of leaders and that keeping him in charge would complicate efforts to win back Punjab. Pilot is learnt to have conveyed this to party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi and left it to them to take the call.
Earlier this week, the party finally decided to replace Warring, but Pilot, sources said, did not want the change of guard to be announced through a statement. He requested the leadership to meet Warring and ensure the change of guard is “smooth and dignified”.
However, Warring sensed the mood and tried to mount pressure by making his unhappiness public. He changed his account bio on X, but the leadership had made up its mind by then, sources said. The high command, they said, was clear that appointing Channi or former Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the current MP from Gurdaspur, the PCC president could upset the apple cart, as both of them are CM aspirants along with state LoP Partap Singh Bajwa.
While the names of some Hindu leaders — including Vijay Inder Singla, Rana K P Singh and Bharat Bhushan Ashu — were discussed, the leadership was clear that a Sikh should be at the helm of the state Congress. And that too a figure known across Punjab, but who would not be in the race for the CM post if the party wins power next year. That is how the leadership zeroed in on Pargat Singh.
The 62-year-old Singh is from Mithapur in Jalandhar, a village known for producing hockey players. Singh played as a full-back and is widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. He represented India at the Olympics in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996, captaining the team in the last two editions. At Atlanta 1996, he was also the country’s flag-bearer in the opening ceremony.
Singh’s storied sports career includes winning a bronze medal at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and a silver at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. He received the Arjuna Award in 1989 and the Padma Shri in 1998. After retiring, he coached the men’s national team and later held roles in hockey administration in Punjab, including as general secretary of Hockey Punjab (2017).
He started his political career with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 2012, when he won Jalandhar Cantonment for the first time. However, he broke from the Akalis in 2016 before moving to the Congress the following year.
