Chandigarh, Oct 3:
The Congress on Friday appointed former Indian hockey captain and Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh as the new president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), replacing Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who resigned from the post earlier in the day. The appointment takes effect immediately, according to an announcement by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
Warring, who had headed the Punjab Congress since 2022, met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and formally submitted his resignation. The leadership change comes ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections and follows the appointment of Sachin Pilot as the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge in place of Bhupesh Baghel.
Pargat Singh, 61, is a three-time MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment. He won the constituency in 2012 and retained it in 2017 and 2022. Before entering politics, he had a distinguished hockey career and captained the Indian team at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also represented India at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and several World Cups.
Singh entered electoral politics with the Shiromani Akali Dal before joining the Congress. He served as a minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi government from September 2021 to March 2022, handling portfolios including education, sports and NRI affairs. He had earlier served as Punjab’s director of sports and was appointed India’s national hockey coach in 1998.
The Congress has said that the working presidents and chairpersons and co-chairpersons of various election-related committees in Punjab will continue in their existing positions. The party also acknowledged Warring’s contribution as state Congress president.
Warring had earlier indicated that he had conveyed his views on the Punjab organisation to Rahul Gandhi. He also said he believed Sachin Pilot may have concluded that it was time for him to step down, while making it clear that he had no concrete proof of this.
Pargat Singh now takes charge of the Punjab Congress as the party prepares for the next Assembly election and seeks to organise its state unit under the new leadership.