The Punjab Congress officially rolled out its statewide 'Jawani Sambhal' cycle yatra on Thursday, November 12, from Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district, with senior party leadership spearheading the campaign ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections of 2027. The yatra was launched after the leaders offered prayers at Gurdwara Sri Katalgarh Sahib in Chamkaur Sahib, and Punjab Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot shared a post on X emphasising the spiritual importance of the launch, reports said.

Source: Devdiscourse

Addressing the launch rally at Chamkaur Sahib, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Pargat Singh called for urgent measures to protect Punjab's youth from drugs, gangsterism, unemployment and insecurity, saying safeguarding the future of the younger generation was the need of the hour. Extending support to the yatra being undertaken by former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, he said the Congress would carry its message to every village, town and household in Punjab.

Source: SmartStudyWeb

Day one: Chamkaur Sahib to Samrala

Outlining the first day's schedule, Channi said the yatra began at 10:30 am with obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Katalgarh Sahib, followed by a public rally at the Chamkaur Sahib stadium at 11:00 am and the official flag-off of the cycle yatra at 11:30 am. The route passed Lutheri and a public rally at Khamanon before a lunch break, with a public address scheduled at the Main Bazaar in Samrala at 5:15 pm and a 1.2-kilometre foot march from Kang Market to the new bus stand in the evening. Channi said the campaign was being launched to fight rising drug abuse, gang violence, unemployment and the deteriorating law and order in the state.

Those present at the launch included co-in-charges Ravinder Dalvi and Suraj Singh Thakur, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, MPs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amar Singh, former minister Rana Gurjeet Singh and former minister Vijay Inder Singla, besides other senior leaders and party workers, according to the launch-rally report. A video of the gurdwara visit and the yatra was also posted on Channi's official Facebook page on Thursday.

The cycle yatra is the youth leg of the party's wider 'Punjab Mangda Insaaf' (Punjab Demands Justice) campaign, which Pargat Singh announced on Tuesday and which the party said would reach every village and neighbourhood to highlight the issues facing Punjab — Awaaz Punjab reported the campaign announcement earlier this week. Read: Congress 'Punjab Mangda Insaaf' campaign announcement

Rival reaction and the unity question

The launch drew rival attention as well. One report said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had ridiculed the initiative hours before the flag-off and that rival leaders pointed to parallel campaign routes within the state Congress as a sign of factional rifts; Channi pushed back, insisting the cycle campaign is an integrated part of the broader 'Punjab Mangda Insaaf' push rather than a splinter project. The same report said the yatra's first phase is planned to cover 28 Assembly constituencies, with different senior leaders heading routes across different regions and Pilot joining select segments.

Source: Air News

The yatra now continues across Punjab in the coming days. With the Mann government's term running to March 2027, all major parties — the ruling AAP, the Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal — are building their campaigns around drugs, law and order, jobs and farm issues, and the Congress says the 'Jawani Sambhal' outreach is meant to take that contest directly to young voters.