Warring, the Congress MP from Ludhiana, said after the meeting that he had handed his resignation to Gandhi and briefed him on the political situation in Punjab, the party’s organisational challenges and its strengths ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.
The resignation was followed hours later by the appointment of Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Singh’s appointment with immediate effect, completing a leadership change that had been signalled a day earlier by Warring himself.
Warring had changed his biography on X on Thursday, first describing himself as “Former President INC Punjab” and then as “Former PPCC President”, before the party had formally announced a replacement. The change intensified speculation over an organisational reshuffle after weeks of internal differences within the Punjab unit.
Speaking after his meeting with Gandhi, Warring said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had sought his assessment of conditions on the ground, including the Congress’s position and its approach towards the Aam Aadmi Party government.
“I shared with him my four-and-a-half years of experience as the Punjab Congress state president, what are the challenges we have, how we have to fight those challenges and where our strengths are,” Warring said, describing those issues as the context of the discussion.
He thanked Gandhi for entrusting him with the state organisation and said he remained available for any responsibility assigned by the Congress. Warring had taken over the Punjab unit in April 2022, following the party’s defeat in that year’s Assembly election, when it won 18 of the state’s 117 seats.
Warring also addressed questions about the circumstances surrounding his departure, saying he had formed an impression that Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot, who is in charge of Punjab, may have favoured a change in the state leadership. He stressed that he had no concrete evidence for that view.
“I feel that Sachin Pilot may have thought that Raja should be removed. I do not have any concrete evidence for this,” Warring told journalists. He said there had been no detailed discussion with Pilot over whether he should continue as state president.
The leadership transition follows months of visible differences among senior Punjab Congress figures. A section associated with former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had sought a change at the top of the state organisation, while Warring’s continuation had remained a point of contention within the unit.
Pilot had taken charge of Congress affairs in Punjab after replacing Bhupesh Baghel as the party’s state in-charge. His consultations with Punjab leaders formed part of the central leadership’s assessment of the organisation as it prepares for the next Assembly election.
Pargat Singh’s appointment settled immediate speculation over Warring’s successor. The former hockey captain has represented Jalandhar Cantonment in the Punjab Assembly since 2012 and previously served as a minister in the state government led by Channi.
The change places Pargat Singh in charge of a state unit that is seeking to manage factional differences while preparing to challenge the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and other rivals in the Assembly election due in 2027. The Congress had retained Warring in the state president’s post during an organisational exercise earlier this year before opting for another change.
Warring, meanwhile, indicated that he intended to take a break after leaving the post. He said he had worked continuously during his tenure and would remain a Congress worker despite relinquishing the organisational position.
