On Friday, Raja Warring told PTI that the resignation was not a forced move but the result of years of internal pressure, citing former state affairs in‑charge Sachin Pilot as a catalyst. Warring, who had led the Punjab unit since April 2022, said the factional rift had intensified after Pilot was named in‑charge in September, prompting him to step aside. The split pits the Dalit‑oriented former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi against Warring’s Jat‑ Sikh base, with Pargat Singh, a former Jalandhar Cantonment MLA, emerging as the new president. Rahul Gandhi met Warring after the exit, discussing personal matters and Punjab politics, and the Congress hopes to present a united front before its early‑2027 assembly campaign and a planned bus tour. Pargat Singh will now lead the state unit into the elections, while the party negotiates potential alliances with the BJP and the Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) as the government of Bhagwant Mann faces a back‑to‑back challenge.