PoliticsPunjab
Rahul Gandhi to open Congress's Punjab campaign with Insaaf Rally in Mann's home district
The Leader of Opposition is due to address party workers at Phaguwala village in Sangrur on Wednesday, the first big test for new state chief Pargat Singh.
Key points
- Rahul Gandhi addresses the Insaaf Rally at Phaguwala in Sangrur on Wednesday.
- Congress expects more than one lakh workers at the launch of its 2027 Punjab campaign.
- Drugs, law and order and jobs will be the main charges against the AAP government.
Rahul Gandhi is due to launch the Congress campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly election on Wednesday with an Insaaf Rally at Phaguwala village in Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The Punjab Congress asked supporters to reach the venue by 10 am. The party says it expects more than one lakh workers from across the state.
The rally is the first big outing for Pargat Singh as state party chief. The former India hockey captain replaced Amrinder Singh Raja Warring after weeks of open feuding in the state unit, and AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot, the party’s Punjab in-charge, has visited the ground several times with former MP Vijay Inder Singla.
Pargat Singh has called the rally a “decisive platform” in the party’s fight for Punjab’s rights, justice and future. He accused the AAP government of turning Punjab into a “police state” and of staying silent while farmers struggled to sell their paddy.
The case against Mann
Party leaders say Gandhi will go after the state government on drugs, law and order and unemployment. When the rally was first announced on 26 October under the name “Hisaab Maango”, general secretary K C Venugopal said: “Our goal is to win back Punjab and save Punjab from these evil forces.” Pilot promised that “Badlav (change) will definitely happen.”
The climb is steep. The Congress won only 18 of 117 seats in 2022, down from 77 five years earlier, while the AAP swept 92. The Congress is now the main opposition in the Assembly, and its leaders appeared together in Chandigarh last week to show that the factional fights are over.
The AAP government had not responded to the rally plans by Wednesday morning.