E-Paper
Meet the new Punjab Congress working presidents
Kuljit Singh Nagra, Fatehgarh Sahib MLA From being a student union leader at Khalsa College, Chandigarh, to working president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, it is no less than meteoric rise for Kuljit Singh Nagra (56), the Fatehgarh Sahib MLA who comes from a non-political family
Kuljit Singh Nagra, Fatehgarh Sahib MLA
From being a student union leader at Khalsa College, Chandigarh, to working president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, it is no less than meteoric rise for Kuljit Singh Nagra (56), the Fatehgarh Sahib MLA who comes from a non-political family. Considered close to the party leadership, particularly former president Rahul Gandhi, Nagra is associated with All India Congress Committee (AICC) communication head Randeep Singh Surjewala since college days. Nagra remained Punjab Youth Congress general secretary from 1995 to 1997 and later general secretary of the India Youth Congress besides being a senate member of Panjab University, Chandigarh. He caught Rahul Gandhi’s attention in 2007 when he spoke on the farmers’ issues. He was made vice-president of the party’s kisan cell. He managed to get ticket from Fatehgarh Sahib in 2012 and defeated Akali heavyweight Prem Singh Chandumajra. He was re-elected in 2017.
“My appointment as PPCC working president is a testimony to the fact that any ordinary worker can reach up to any level in the party, provided you work with dedication. I considered myself among grassroots workers who are the backbone of a party,” said two-time MLA and AICC secretary Nagra, thanking Rahul Gandhi.
Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Jandiala Guru MLA
Jandiala Guru MLA Sukhwinder Singh Danny, also known as Danny Bandala, has been appointed as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) working president at a relatively young age of 43. Though there are other senior Congress leaders like Amritsar east MLA Raj Kumar Verka and Attari MLA Tarsem Singh DC from the scheduled caste (SC) community in the Majha region, the party high command preferred him for the post in an attempt to woo the Dalits. His proximity with Rahul Gandhi is also believed to have played a role in his new appointment.
Sukhwinder’s father and two-time Congress MLA late Sardool Singh Bandala was a minister in the previous Congress government led by Amarinder Singh from 2002 to 2007. The Bandala junior was among the Youth Congress leaders who were fielded by Rahul Gandhi in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but he lost from the Faridkot segment. He, however, scraped through in the 2017 assembly elections and defeated SAD’s Dalbir Singh. He was Youth Congress vice-president from 2005 to 2014 and served as a member of the Committee on Welfare of SCs, STs and BCs of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha (2017-2019).
Pawan Goel, former PPCC general secretary
Pawan Goel is the only Hindu face and a non-MLA among four newly appointed working presidents of the Punjab Pradesh Congress committee (PPCC). The 65-year-old low-key leader, Goel, who hails from Jaitu in Faridkot district, comes from a family of traditional Congressmen. His father Lala Bhagwan Dass was elected MLA from Kotkapura in 1980 and served in the cabinet of then chief minister Darbara Singh for two years starting 1981 (the Darbara Singh government resigned and President’s rule was imposed in Punjab in 1983). He also served as PPCC vice-president from 1985 to 1988. Dass was assassinated by Sikh militants in 1988.
His family had close ties with former chief ministers Beant Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhathal. Goel is considered to be close to the CM Capt Amarinder Singh. He was general secretary of PPCC, which was dissolved in 2020. Goel also served as Faridkot Congress president between 2006 and 2011.
He, however, never got a chance to contest an assembly election but his recent appointment has made him a frontrunner for Congress ticket from Kotkapura in the assembly elections.
Sangat Singh Gilzian, Urmur MLA
Gilzian, 68, a three-time MLA from the Urmur assembly segment in Hoshiarpur district, began his political journey at the grassroots level when he was elected sarpanch of his village in the 1990s. One of the few MLAs who first joined ranks with Navjot Singh Sidhu against Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Gilzian lost his first election from Urmur in 2002 by a small margin. During the 2007 assembly, the Congress denied him party ticket but he chose to contest as an independent and won with a margin of over 10,000 votes. Till he rejoined the Congress-fold in 2009, his supporters managed to stage an impressive victory in the Tanda municipal elections despite the fact that the Shiromani Akali Dal was in power. The backward class (BC) community leader has retained the Urmur assembly seat since 2007. He resigned from party posts in 2018 after he was not included in the expanded state cabinet and accused the party of “ignoring” the backward classes in the government, underlining that he is a senior legislator from the Doaba region.
“I have been serving the people since I became sarpanch. We will take our workers along and form government in 2022,” he said.
(Inputs by Vishal Rambani, Surjit Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Parteek Singh Mahal)
