Restructuring of Punjab Congress Committee gets underway

Eighteen months ahead of the 2027 Assembly poll, the Congress has started exercise to restructure the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC).

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has constituted a panel of 29 observers, including MPs, former union ministers and former state unit presidents, to select the District Congress Committee (DCC) chiefs.

Based on the concept of social engineering, the observers have been tasked to keep various factors like OBCs and minorities, besides regional factors in mind while shortlisting a panel of three to four candidates for each district.

“Senior leaders like CP Joshi and Bharatsinh Solanki are part of the Sangthan Arijan Abhiyan. Dr A Chella Kumar and Ajoy Kumar, among others, have been appointed to ensure that they give a fair report on the leaders who are actually working on the ground,” said an AICC member.

The entire exercise, monitored by AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, has to be completed by September end.

Based on the observers’ report, the Punjab Affairs In-charge and former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and secretary in-charge Ravinder Dalvi would meet the top party leadership to finalise the names.

A meeting of the newly appointed observers has been called in Delhi on August 25. The new faces would replace the existing district presidents, who were appointed in 2022, said leaders privy to discussions. The DCC chiefs would review the functioning of the Block Congress Committees.

“A similar experiment in Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh has been successful as the representation of the OBCs and minorities has increased. Now, Punjab along with Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, are undergoing the exercise,” said an AICC member.

The rearrangement from bottom to top comes days after a majority of the Punjab Congress leaders categorically told the top brass that the state unit needs a reconstructive surgery and not a cosmetic one to ensure victory in the 2027 Vidhan Sabha elections.

Last month, a majority of the state leadership reportedly told Baghel that party needs to put those persons in the driver’s seat who can aggressively take on the ruling AAP dispensation.

Warring failed to respond despite being called multiple times.