Senior Punjab Congress leaders met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday to discuss the party’s strategy and organisational issues ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was also present at the meeting.
The meeting is being viewed as significant as the Congress high command has already received reports from observers appointed to assess the party’s organisational structure and internal dynamics in Punjab. The leadership is now expected to assign responsibilities to key leaders.
After the meeting, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said the party would discharge whatever responsibilities were assigned by the high command.
“We are all united. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won eight out of 14 seats, including one in Chandigarh and seven in Punjab. If we could win eight seats midway through the term, why can’t we do it again? With God’s blessings, I believe Congress can secure 70 to 80 seats,” Bajwa said.
The meeting was attended by Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa, former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former minister Vijay Inder Singla and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Factionalism within the Punjab Congress has been a matter of concern for the party leadership for some time. To address the issue, the high command had appointed three observers who held consultations with senior leaders, MPs and office bearers before submitting their report.
Rahul Gandhi has held a series of meetings on Punjab in recent months. On May 30, a key strategy meeting was held at Kharge’s residence in New Delhi, where Gandhi and Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal discussed preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections.
Earlier, on May 1, Gandhi interacted with district Congress presidents from Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh, urging party leaders to move away from VIP culture and strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level.
On February 28, during a visit to Barnala, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge had asked Punjab Congress leaders to end infighting and work together as a united team ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Congress leadership had also met senior Punjab leaders in New Delhi on January 22 to review the political situation in the state and discuss the party’s future course of action.