Newly appointed Punjab Congress chief, hockey legend Pargat Singh, has said that restoring the “Punjab brand”, rebuilding public confidence and shifting political discourse from personal attacks to serious issues will be among his key priorities as he takes charge of the party ahead of the 2027 assembly election.
“It was a mistake. “We can learn from the past, visualise the coming time and see what is right for us in the present circumstances. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Pargat Singh also addressed one of the Congress’s most sensitive historical issues — the 1984 anti-Sikh riots — saying what happened was a mistake and that senior Congress leaders, including former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, had spoken about it in the past.
Rahul Gandhi ji has also said this several times, and Dr Manmohan Singh ji also spoke about it. I also believe it was a mistake,” Pargat said. We also have to move forward,” he said. On education, Pargat said there was a clear mismatch between the requirements of industry and the skills available among young people. Recalling his brief stint as Punjab’s Education Minister, he said industrialists had complained that they could not find adequately skilled youth, while young people simultaneously complained of a lack of jobs. “Our team is Congress, our goal is Punjab, and Congress is the means,” he said.
