The choice of Sangrur for Rahul Gandhi’s November 4 ‘Insaaf Rally’ is rooted in the electoral arithmetic of Punjab as much as in the political controversies surrounding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
The numbers explain why Congress has chosen Malwa as the launchpad for its election campaign rather than beginning from another region. Malwa has traditionally been regarded as the region that holds the key to the chief minister’s chair. Over the past three decades, Punjab’s chief ministers have largely emerged from this region, reinforcing its political importance. Against this backdrop, Congress’s decision to organise an Insaaf Rally in Sangrur allows the party to raise the drug menace, public safety and accountability directly in the chief minister’s home district.
Congress, therefore, wants to reclaim political ground in the same region from where AAP had consolidated its power. The Congress is beginning its campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections from Malwa, the state’s largest and politically most significant region, which accounts for 69 of Punjab’s 117 Assembly constituencies. In other words, nearly 59 per cent of the state’s Assembly seats are concentrated in this belt, making its electoral performance crucial for every party aspiring to form the government. The 2022 Assembly elections further demonstrated Malwa’s importance. AAP won 66 of the region’s 69 seats, playing a decisive role in the party’s landslide victory. For Rahul Gandhi, the Sangrur rally is an attempt to put Malwa at the centre of Congress’s Mission 2027 and mobilise party workers across its constituencies.
