Capt Sandeep Sandhu (retd), one of the longest-serving organisational functionaries of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), has resigned as the general secretary (organisation), leaving the key post vacant.
Sandhu confirmed that he had tendered his resignation but declined to comment on the reasons behind his decision.
With the 2027 Punjab assembly elections on the horizon, Pargat faces the task of filling the key organisational post as he prepares to strengthen the state unit.
Sandhu had continued in the organisational role under three successive PPCC presidents — Capt Amarinder Singh, Sunil Jakhar and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring — making him one of the longest-serving functionaries in the state unit. He was a key organisational aide to the three leaders, overseeing party-related work through successive changes in the state leadership.
His resignation comes weeks after Pargat took charge of the Punjab Congress on October 2, replacing Warring amid continuing factional differences within the state unit.
The working relationship between Pargat and Sandhu, meanwhile, has been marked by differences, dating back to the Amarinder Singh-led government.
In May 2021, Pargat, then the Jalandhar Cantonment MLA, had alleged that Sandhu, who was Amarinder’s political secretary at the time, had conveyed a message from the then chief minister threatening action against him for questioning the government over the sacrilege and police firing cases.
{{/usCountry}}In May 2021, Pargat, then the Jalandhar Cantonment MLA, had alleged that Sandhu, who was Amarinder’s political secretary at the time, had conveyed a message from the then chief minister threatening action against him for questioning the government over the sacrilege and police firing cases.
{{/usCountry}}Pargat had claimed that Sandhu told him that material had been collected against him and that he would be taken to task. Sandhu had rejected the allegations.
The controversy had erupted amid growing dissent within the Punjab Congress over the government’s handling of the 2015 sacrilege and police firing cases, with Pargat among the leaders demanding accountability.
The episode brought the friction between the two leaders into the open. Pargat, a former India hockey captain and three-time MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, had emerged as a vocal critic of the Amarinder government on the sacrilege issue. Sandhu, meanwhile, was closely associated with the then chief minister’s political and organisational functioning.
Following Sandhu’s resignation, Congress leaders said the names of former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Kiki Dhillon, Barinder Dhillon, Smit Singh and others were under consideration, and a replacement was likely to be appointed in the coming days to ensure the smooth functioning of the party organisation.