‘Congress to contest 2027 Punjab polls under joint party leadership’

Bathinda: AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the Congress will contest the 2027 state polls under the collective leadership of the party.

Addressing a press conference here, Baghel said all senior leaders of the party are chief ministerial faces.

He was accompanied by Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress Legislative Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa and other leaders.

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

The final decision on the chief ministerial candidate would be taken by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, he said.

Baghel was in Punjab on the final leg of the first phase of the Congress’ ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, a mass outreach programme against the Union government’s move to replace MGNREGA with the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajiveeka Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act.

The former Chhattisgarh chief minister said the programme received strong public support, including from Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was bent on destroying the rural economy. MGNREGA was a rights-based law brought by the Congress to ensure 100 days of employment for rural labourers, and scrapping it would snatch their right to work, Baghel charged.

Referring to the Centre-state funding ratio, he claimed that several states were unable to implement central schemes due to lack of funds.