New Delhi: Congress general secretary and Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot has said the party will contest the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections under collective leadership and does not depend on any single face, rejecting talk of rivalry in the state unit as "healthy competition" in an exclusive interview with ANI on Saturday, October 31.
Source: ANI via APNA MA TV
"Our party doesn't depend on just one, two, or five leaders. Ours is a 140-year-old party with presence in every single village. When new saplings are planted, new flowers bloom, new leaders emerge, and fresh leadership is born," Pilot told ANI.
Asked who the party's chief ministerial face would be, Pilot said that when a party is in opposition, leadership comes collectively from the Leader of Opposition, the state party president and senior leaders. Referring to Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh, who took charge on October 11, he said: "We don't rely on just one face; our entire team is contesting together. Our new state president comes from a sports background. A captain is strong, but a captain is only as strong as the team backing him."
The remarks follow months of speculation about factionalism in the Punjab Congress. Former state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring resigned on September 30 and Pargat Singh was appointed in his place, while supporters of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had repeatedly raised slogans backing him, ANI reported. Pilot denied that the party's depth creates rivalry: "There is no rivalry; it is healthy competition," he said, adding that the party's leaders across districts have served as MLAs, MPs, ministers, chief minister and deputy chief minister.
Source: OB News
Pilot frames 2027 as a direct Congress-AAP fight
Pilot framed the coming election as a direct contest between the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, and accused the AAP government of failing on law and order, drugs, crime, investment and jobs — allegations the AAP had not responded to in the interview report. AAP won 92 of Punjab's 117 seats in 2022, while the Congress won 18, according to ANI's report.
On drugs, Pilot claimed — as an allegation against the state government — that "if you sit at home or in a village, ordering food via Blinkit or Zomato takes 45 minutes, whereas 'chitta' and drugs reach your doorstep in 20 minutes." He also claimed Punjab's debt had climbed to Rs 4.5 lakh crore from Rs 2.5 lakh crore. Both figures are Pilot's claims made in the interview and were not independently verified in the report.
Asked about former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who left the Congress for the BJP, Pilot called it his personal decision and claimed — as his own assessment — that Amarinder Singh "isn't very happy" in the BJP and that newcomers rarely get genuine respect there. Pilot said he has had no personal contact or conversation with Amarinder Singh and could not say whether a return was possible.
On speculation about a Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance, Pilot said the Congress's direct contest was with AAP and described the Congress vote bank as "rock solid" across Doaba, Majha and Malwa — his party's claim ahead of the campaign. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to launch the party's Punjab campaign with a rally at Sangrur on November 4, the party announced earlier this week.
Source: Asianet News via Khelja