Punjab Congress gets new president: Who is Pargat Singh?

Punjab Congress gets new president: Who is Pargat Singh? Singh has been an MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment since 2012.

Key points

• 3 min read Chandigarh Oct 2, 2026 10: 02 PM IST First published on: Oct 2, 2026 at 09: 27 PM IST.
• He represented India at the Olympics in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996, captaining the team in the last two.
• Other highlights include a bronze medal with the Indian team at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and a silver at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.
• The Congress on Friday appointed former India hockey captain Pargat Singh, the sitting MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, the new Punjab Congress president.
• Pargat Singh, former India hockey captain, is new Punjab Congress president (Express Photo).

Pargat Singh, former India hockey captain, is new Punjab Congress president (Express Photo). Written by: Man Aman Singh Chhina.

Notably, the Congress on Friday appointed former India hockey captain Pargat Singh, the sitting MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, the new Punjab Congress president. The announcement came hours after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring stepped down from the post and blamed AICC Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot for his exit.

Notably, the 62-year-old Singh, a former Punjab Police officer, has represented Jalandhar Cantonment since 2012 and served as a Cabinet minister during the brief tenure of Charanjit Singh Channi as CM. At present, he is the AICC secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir.

Born in Mithapur, Jalandhar, a village known for producing hockey players, Singh played as a full-back and was widely regarded as one of India's best defenders of his era. He represented India at the Olympics in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996, captaining the team in the last two. At Atlanta 1996, he was additionally India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.

Other highlights include a bronze medal with the Indian team at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and a silver at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. He received the Arjuna Award in 1989 and the Padma Shri in 1998. After his playing career he coached the men's national team and afterwards held roles in hockey administration in Punjab, including as general secretary of Hockey Punjab (2017).

Pargat served in the Punjab Police and rose to the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) before leaving the service and entering electoral politics in 2012 after winning Jalandhar Cantonment on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket and defeating Congress's Jagbir Singh Brar. In July 2016, the SAD suspended him and he shortly quit the party, accusing Sukhbir Badal of betraying the trust of the voters.

He then joined Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Bains brothers in the short-lived Awaaz-e-Punjab front. It presented itself as opposing forces they deemed harmful to Punjab's interests. He afterwards joined the Indian National Congress and won the same seat again in 2017. Pargat raises copyright strikes by AAP: 'Gagging media, free speech'.

Under Channi, he was a Cabinet Minister from September 26, 2021, to March 11 2022, holding the School Education, Higher Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, and NRI Affairs portfolios.

When the AAP received a massive mandate, he retained Jalandhar Cantonment for Congress, defeating fellow former hockey international Surinder Singh Sodhi by around 5, 800 votes, in the 2022 Assembly elections.

In short, punjab Congress gets new president: Who is Pargat Singh? Is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.