Navjot Sidhu comeback talk grows as Pargat Singh takes charge of Punjab Congress on Sunday

Talk of a possible return by former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has picked up as Olympian-turned-MLA Pargat Singh prepares to formally take charge of the state unit on Sunday, 11 October. No Congress leader has confirmed a role for Sidhu, but senior figures are not ruling it out, Dainik Jagran reported on 9 October.

Pargat Singh takes over from Warring

Pargat Singh, a former India hockey captain and the MLA from Jalandhar Cantt, was named president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee in place of Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in a notification signed by AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, ANI reported on 2 October. Warring had been state chief since 2022, when he succeeded Sidhu.

According to Dainik Jagran, Pargat Singh will take charge at Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh’s Sector 15 on Sunday. The party expects 8,000 to 10,000 supporters, along with Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot and Venugopal. Jagran said attention would be on whether former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Warring attend, given the factional tensions in the party.

What leaders are saying about Sidhu

Sidhu has not been fully active in party affairs for a long time, Jagran reported. Asked whether he could return and what role he might play, senior Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh said he could not say anything yet and that only the new state president could answer.

The more members in the house, the better.

Rana Gurjit Singh, Congress MLA, as quoted by Dainik Jagran (translated from Hindi)

Rana Gurjit also stressed that party discipline must not be broken “at any cost”, according to the report.

Background

In December 2025, Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, said he would return to active politics if the Congress named him its chief ministerial face, The Tribune reported, citing PTI. The report noted that Sidhu had stayed away from party events for many months and did not campaign in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

• Punjab votes for a new Assembly in 2027
• The Congress lost the 2022 election to the AAP
• The party’s manifesto committee has already met two or three times, and other election committees are due to meet from next week, Jagran reported

Sidhu himself has not commented publicly on the latest speculation in the reports The Daily Rostrum reviewed.

Sources: Dainik Jagran (Sidhu), Dainik Jagran (Pargat Singh), ANI, The Tribune.