Hockey legend Pargat Singh’s elevation as Punjab Congress president brings into focus a defining feature of his political journey – his willingness to challenge powerful leaders, including those within his own party.
His political trajectory has been marked by repeated confrontations with the leadership of the parties he represented. From questioning the Badal family while he was in the Shiromani Akali Dal to taking on Captain Amarinder Singh after joining the Congress, Pargat Singh’s outspoken approach has often put him on the wrong side of the establishment. That very trait could now have emerged as one of his biggest strengths of the Olympian within the Congress.
Pargat Singh’s most prominent confrontation with the Akali leadership came in 2016. After being suspended by the Shiromani Akali Dal in July 2016, he wrote a strongly worded letter to then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on August 5-6, 2016, directly attacking the functioning of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
He also referred to corruption in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation and raised concerns about the functioning of the government. His differences with the Badals had also sharpened over the proposed solid-waste treatment plant near Jalandhar. In the letter, he raised concerns over the alleged collapse of corruption cases, the drug menace, revenue leakages, sand and liquor operations and the continuing influence of the Badal family’s transport business.
He eventually resigned from the SAD on September 12, 2016, before joining the Congress. Read | ‘Charanjit Channi Saheb Has Won’: Raja Warring Meets Rahul Gandhi After Exit As Punjab Congress Chief In February 2020, Pargat Singh wrote to then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh questioning the functioning of the Congress government. He also questioned the government’s handling of the sacrilege issue, which he described as one of the major reasons behind Congress coming to power in 2017.
Singh questioned the party’s direction, alleged that the Akali Dal’s core ideology was being sidelined and said that raising the voice of the people should not be treated as anti-party activity.
