Manish Tewari left in the cold as Congress appoints new working presidents, poll panels for Punjab

The Congress on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) announced a slew of election-related committees for Punjab, where polls are scheduled next year, and appointed three new working presidents for the party’s State unit, putting an end to speculation that Punjab Congress chief, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, would be replaced.

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By assigning different roles to senior leaders from the State, the exercise was an attempt to contain the intense factionalism in the State unit. However, the most notable omission was three-term Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari, who has spent more than four decades in the Congress and is one of the party’s key faces appealing to its traditional Hindu votebank in the State.

Roles for senior leaders

The new working presidents are Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Raj Kumar Verka and Sangat Singh Gilzian.

Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has been named chairman of the campaign committee, Vijay Inder Singla will head the election management committee, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa will head the core committee, and Amar Singh will chair the manifesto committee.

Other co-chairpersons of the campaign committee are Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Rana Gurjeet Singh, and Dharamvira Gandhi. The election management and coordination committee co-chairpersons are O.P. Soni, Razia Sultana, Kuljit Singh Nagra, Angad Singh Saini, and Bharat Bhushan Ashu. The manifesto committee will have Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Pargat Singh, Hardial Singh Kamboj, and Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria as co-chairpersons.

“Shri Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Shri Pratap Singh Bajwa will continue as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Punjab, respectively,” said a statement from Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal.