The Indian National Congress on Friday, 31 July launched a booth-level mobilisation campaign in Punjab, signalling an early ground push ahead of the state's upcoming Assembly elections. Party General Secretary and Punjab incharge Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated the 'Har Booth, Mazboot' programme in Fatehgarh Sahib, calling the forthcoming polls 'the most important ones' for the state.

What the Campaign Entails

The drive is designed to energise Congress workers at the grassroots level, with Baghel urging booth-level volunteers to treat the elections as a personal mandate. He told workers: 'Once you resolve to be strong to win, no matter how many Modis, Manns or Kejriwals come, nobody can defeat you.' The campaign's name — translating roughly to 'Every booth, fortified' — reflects the party's intent to contest every polling unit with organised presence.

Baghel also invoked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's framing, describing the elections as 'a battle for principles and ideology' and 'a battle to save the unity, brotherhood, harmony and the Constitution of the country which are under grave threat.'

Congress Targets AAP and BJP Together

Baghel drew a direct equivalence between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, calling them 'two sides of the same coin' and 'the most vindictive parties which believe in and practise vendetta politics.' He predicted a five-cornered contest, with the Congress, the BJP, the AAP, the Akali Dal, and Waris Punjab De all in the fray.

He argued that Congress workers had endured 'intimidation, humiliation and vendetta' over the past five years, and that defeating both governments was therefore a matter of self-preservation as much as political ambition.

State President on Party Unity and AAP's Position

Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring sought to counter media narratives of internal factionalism, asserting that any differences of opinion within the party had already been resolved. He pointed out that no Congress MP or MLA had defected to the BJP, contrasting this with what he claimed were six AAP MPs who crossed over and 60 AAP MLAs reportedly in contact with the BJP.

Warring also targeted Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, alleging that his government was surviving on a ₹1,000 crore advertising budget. 'The moment the publicity stops, his oxygen supply will stop and his government will collapse,' Warring said. He acknowledged senior party figures including Partap Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as more experienced leaders within the state unit.

The Broader Political Context

Punjab's political landscape has grown increasingly fragmented since the AAP's landslide 2022 Assembly win, which swept out the Congress after a single term. The Congress has since been rebuilding its organisational base, and the 'Har Booth, Mazboot' campaign is among its first structured ground-level responses. Notably, the party is simultaneously managing perceptions of internal discord — a recurring challenge in Punjab, where regional heavyweights have historically operated semi-independently.

With elections still some time away, the early mobilisation signals that the Congress views booth management — not just top-tier leadership — as the decisive variable this time around.