Congress to fight 2027 Punjab polls under collective leadership: Bhupesh Baghel

The Congress will contest the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections under a model of collective leadership, with no chief ministerial face announced in advance, AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference here, Baghel said all senior leaders of the party would jointly lead the campaign, adding that the final decision on the chief ministerial candidate would be taken later by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislative Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa were present at the briefing.

Baghel said that except for the 2017 elections, when Amarinder Singh was declared the chief ministerial candidate, the Congress has traditionally fought Punjab polls under collective leadership.

The former Chhattisgarh chief minister was in the state as part of the Congress’ ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, a mass outreach programme opposing the Centre’s decision to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act.

He accused the Narendra Modi government of weakening a rights-based law that guarantees 100 days of employment to rural labourers.

“MGNREGA was enacted to secure the right to work for the poorest. Scrapping it amounts to taking away that right,” Baghel said.

Funding pressure on states

Baghel also criticised the Centre over the funding structure of the new law, arguing that it places excessive financial pressure on states already facing fiscal stress.

He said states such as Punjab were struggling to contribute 40 per cent of scheme costs under the VB-G RAM G Act, especially when their finances were already stretched.

Claiming that Punjab’s debt had crossed Rs 4 lakh crore, Baghel accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to invest in education and healthcare infrastructure over the past four years. He said existing facilities were merely being rebranded without meaningful improvement in services.

Law and order concerns

The Congress leader also raised concerns over the law and order situation in the state, alleging that Punjab had witnessed nine murders in the first 10 days of the New Year.

Calling it a sign of “governance failure”, he said public safety had deteriorated under the present dispensation.

On allegations of corruption in MGNREGA raised by the BJP, Baghel asked why no decisive action had been taken over the past 11 years if wrongdoing was widespread.

The Congress, he said, would fight the 2027 elections on issues of rural distress, unemployment, erosion of welfare guarantees and the need for stable governance, positioning itself as an alternative to both the BJP-led Centre and the AAP government in Punjab.