Amid deep factionalism in the Punjab Congress and ahead of the Assembly election, newly appointed Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Pargat Singh on Saturday (October 3, 2026) drew on his experience as former captain of the Indian hockey team, and stressed the importance of team spirit and being a team player.
“I feel there are very good players in our team. He recast the gaze from internal differences to the larger political context in Punjab. “We are a team. This is Rahul Gandhi’s team,” Mr. His emphasis on cohesion comes at a politically difficult moment for the Punjab Congress, which has been marked by factional differences as the party prepares for the Assembly election, due early next year. Mr. Warring had worked with dedication to strengthen the Congress and expressed confidence that he would continue to contribute to the party.
“I have been a team player,” he told reporters here, adding that he had always played as a “full-back” — a position centred on supporting the team from behind. We will take all decisions unanimously,” he said, in a clear attempt to reach out to the party’s competing factions and senior leaders. “The issue is Punjab and not differences amongst us,” he said, while describing Mr. Warring as a “player of our team”. He also said that all the senior leaders would be ahead of him in the team. Singh said, adding that the Congress would pursue “constructive politics” and seek to “revive democracy”. Pilot said the Congress would work together with its workers to form the government in Punjab. Describing the outgoing PCC chief as a “younger brother”, he said Mr. Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar, who had left the Congress a few years ago, said though Mr. Singh’s appointment was “somewhat unexpected,” the decision represented a generational shift in the State leadership. “He must use his personal goodwill, stand for civility in political discourse, avoid harsh political rhetoric, finalise an imaginative and doable agenda for Punjab’s renewal and present the Congress as a party of inclusion,” Mr. Kumar said.
