Punjab Congress President Pargat Singh on Thursday, 29 October declared that the 'Insaaf Rally' scheduled in Sangrur on 4 November — to be addressed by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi — would serve as a decisive platform in the fight for the state's rights, justice and future. The rally is expected to draw more than one lakh people from across Punjab.

What the Rally Will Raise

Pargat Singh said the Indian National Congress (INC) would use the occasion to forcefully raise a range of pressing issues, including law and order, drugs, unemployment, paddy procurement, sacrilege cases and the broader question of Punjab's constitutional and economic rights. He alleged that over the past four-and-a-half years, the state government had remained largely silent on issues affecting farmers, young people and ordinary citizens, despite being accountable to the public.

Attack on the AAP Government

Launching a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Pargat Singh said the situation in Punjab was becoming increasingly worrying. He alleged that instead of listening to public concerns, the government's handling of the system was steadily eroding the confidence of ordinary citizens. He added that he had already warned inside the Punjab Assembly that the AAP government was turning the state into a 'police state', with the morale of the police and civil administration now visibly low.

Paddy Procurement Crisis

On the agrarian front, Pargat Singh said farmers were struggling to sell their crops in mandis, yet the state government had failed to offer any concrete solution. He questioned why Punjab's farmers were not being assured fair prices and timely procurement when better procurement prices were reportedly being discussed in other states. 'Farmers need more than assurances — they need smooth procurement and the full value of their hard work,' he said, adding that the state government's continued silence was only worsening their difficulties.

Broader Democratic Concern

Pargat Singh also drew a parallel at the national level, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had weakened the natural functioning of democratic institutions across India, while the AAP was replicating that pattern in Punjab. This comes amid an intensifying political battle in the state ahead of what observers expect to be a fiercely contested electoral cycle. The Insaaf Rally is being positioned by the Congress as a show of mass mobilisation and a signal of the party's intent to reclaim ground in a state it lost to the AAP in the 2022 assembly elections.

What to Watch

The scale of the turnout on 4 November will be closely watched as a barometer of Congress's revival in Punjab. Rahul Gandhi's address is expected to set the political agenda on state autonomy and farmer welfare, themes that have historically resonated strongly with Punjab's electorate.