The Congress has carried out a major organisational reshuffle ahead of key Assembly elections, appointing Sukhdeo Bhagat as the party's new general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh. The move comes with significant changes in Punjab, where Sachin Pilot has replaced Bhupesh Baghel as the AICC general secretary in charge, while Baghel has been shifted to Assam.

The changes were announced by AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal on Saturday and took effect immediately. The reshuffle comes at a politically important time for the Congress, particularly in Punjab, where the party has been dealing with internal differences ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. 

Sukhdeo Bhagat takes charge in Chhattisgarh

Bhagat's appointment brings a new central leadership face to the Congress organisation in Chhattisgarh. He replaces Sachin Pilot, who had been handling the state before being moved to Punjab.

Bhagat is a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Lohardaga, Jharkhand. His political career includes a stint as Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president and several terms in the state Assembly. He had also briefly joined the BJP before returning to the Congress.

His appointment comes as the Chhattisgarh Congress seeks to strengthen its organisation and improve coordination between its state leadership, senior leaders and grassroots workers.

The immediate focus for Bhagat is likely to include assessing the organisation at the district and booth levels and coordinating the party's political preparations in the state.

Pilot gets Punjab responsibility

Sachin Pilot has now been given charge of Punjab, replacing Bhupesh Baghel.

The decision assumes significance because Punjab Congress has been facing internal differences over the party's organisational leadership. The dispute intensified after the Congress retained Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, while former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was given the role of campaign committee chairman.

According to recent reports, leaders associated with the Channi camp had questioned the continuation of the existing leadership arrangement and pressed the high command for changes. Rival slogans and disruptions at party programmes had also exposed the divisions within the state unit. 

Bhupesh Baghel shifted to Assam

Baghel, who had been responsible for Punjab since February 2025, has now been appointed AICC general secretary in charge of Assam.

The official Congress announcement confirms the reassignment. The party's current list of general secretaries also shows Baghel as the in-charge of Assam. 

The move comes after a period in which Baghel was tasked with bringing together competing factions in Punjab. Reports have linked his replacement to the continuing organisational dispute, although the Congress has not officially described the change as a response to pressure from any particular faction.

Punjab factionalism behind the reshuffle

The leadership change follows weeks of open disagreement within the Punjab Congress.

The dispute became increasingly visible during the party's organisational campaign in July and August, when rival groups reportedly raised slogans and protested against the existing leadership. The issue was also discussed during meetings between the Congress high command and Punjab leaders in Delhi.

India Today reported that leaders from the Channi camp had pressed for changes after Warring was retained as state Congress president. The leadership subsequently brought Pilot into the state ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. 

The Congress now faces the task of rebuilding coordination between the rival camps while preparing for the election.

Pilot faces immediate organisational challenge

Pilot's first major challenge will be to manage the competing political interests within the Punjab unit and establish greater coordination among senior leaders.

The Congress's 2022 Punjab Assembly election defeat remains an important backdrop to the current organisational exercise. With the next election approaching, the party will also have to address candidate selection, campaign coordination and grassroots mobilisation.

The reshuffle therefore represents more than a routine change of state in-charges. For the Congress, Punjab is a politically sensitive state where organisational unity could directly affect its electoral prospects.

What the change means for Chhattisgarh

For Chhattisgarh, the appointment of Bhagat marks a change in the party's central leadership at a time when the state unit is looking to strengthen its organisation.

Bhagat will have to work with the existing state leadership while assessing internal coordination and the party's ground-level preparedness. His experience in Jharkhand politics and within the Congress organisation could become important as the party seeks to consolidate its base.

The reshuffle also signals that the Congress high command is relying on changes in state-level leadership to prepare its organisation for upcoming electoral challenges.

Along with the Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Assam changes, the Congress appointed Randeep Singh Surjewala as Gujarat in-charge, while he will continue handling Karnataka. Dr Sirivella Prasad has been assigned Maharashtra and P V Mohan Andhra Pradesh. 

The immediate test for the new appointments will be whether the reshuffle can translate into stronger organisational coordination and a more unified election strategy on the ground.

The dispute centres on the Congress high command's July 1 decision to retain Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. As part of the same organisational reshuffle, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was named chairman of the party's Campaign Committee, while Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa was given charge of the Election Management Committee — an arrangement designed to spread responsibility across the party's senior leaders and ensure representation across Jat Sikh, Dalit Sikh and Hindu community lines within the state unit.

The reshuffle didn't land as intended. Channi, widely believed to have wanted the state unit's top job for himself, has been joined by Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa — a past rival now aligned with him against Warring — in openly opposing the decision. A meeting meant to resolve the standoff, hosted by senior MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh at his Chandigarh residence on July 11, drew over 90 party leaders, a notably larger turnout than the roughly 60 who'd gathered at Channi's residence right after the original announcement. Nearly every senior Punjab Congress leader not aligned with Warring attended, including Bajwa himself, despite his historically frosty relations with both Channi and Randhawa.

Congress's Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel, who has faced accusations from Randhawa and others of favouring Warring over the party's broader interests, held the meeting expecting a possible breakthrough. Instead, Randhawa emerged afterward to declare that the party doesn't need "compromised leaders," with Channi standing beside him as he said it — a clear signal the talks had failed. Notably, neither Channi nor Randhawa nor even the usually conciliatory Bajwa joined Baghel when he addressed reporters afterward, itself read as a sign of how badly the meeting had gone.

Sources say the Channi camp's demand goes beyond simply removing Warring as party chief — they also want him excluded entirely from candidate selection for next year's Assembly polls. Baghel rejected that specific demand outright, but said he would relay the group's broader concerns to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and organisational general secretary KC Venugopal. Baghel has separately insisted publicly that the high command's original decision "will not be reconsidered" under pressure, dismissing the standoff as something too serious to be treated like a "gudda-guddi ka khel" — a Hindi idiom for child's play, roughly translating to a mock doll's wedding.

With no resolution reached, the matter now sits with the central leadership. Bajwa, for his part, has urged all factions to keep their eyes on the bigger contest, arguing that no individual leader's ambition should outweigh the party's or the state's interests — a message so far more aspirational than descriptive of where Punjab Congress actually stands heading into election season.

The latest organisational decisions come at a crucial time for the Congress as it prepares for future electoral battles in Punjab, a state where factional rivalries have repeatedly affected the party's performance. Party leaders have publicly projected the changes as a sign of unity, but political observers are closely watching how the new arrangement functions on the ground.

Raja Warring will continue to lead the Punjab Congress organisation, a position he has held during a challenging period marked by electoral setbacks and efforts to rebuild the party's grassroots network. By retaining him, the Congress high command appears to have signalled confidence in his ability to manage the organisation and maintain continuity within the state unit.

At the same time, Charanjit Singh Channi has been entrusted with a prominent campaign-related responsibility. The decision gives the former chief minister a significant role in shaping the party’s outreach strategy and election messaging, ensuring that he remains one of the key faces of the Congress in Punjab.

The arrangement is being viewed by many within political circles as an attempt to accommodate multiple power centres within the state unit. Punjab Congress has witnessed leadership disputes and competing factions over the years, with disagreements often becoming public and impacting the party's image.

Congress leaders have maintained that the latest structure is aimed at strengthening the organisation rather than reflecting any internal compromise. According to party insiders, the leadership wants to utilise the strengths of both leaders—Warring's organisational experience and Channi's mass appeal among voters.

The decision also reflects lessons learned from previous episodes in Punjab politics. In the past, leadership tussles involving senior Congress figures often escalated into prolonged conflicts, creating uncertainty ahead of important elections. The party appears keen to avoid a repeat of those situations by distributing responsibilities among influential leaders.

Political analysts note that while the move may help maintain short-term stability, its success will ultimately depend on cooperation between various factions. If leaders work together effectively, the Congress could present a more united front against its political rivals. However, any signs of renewed rivalry could quickly revive questions about internal cohesion.

The development is significant because Punjab remains one of the few states where Congress continues to have a substantial political base despite recent electoral challenges. Strengthening the state unit is seen as critical for the party’s broader national strategy.

Meanwhile, reactions from party workers have been mixed. Some view the arrangement as a practical solution that recognises the contributions of both leaders. Others believe it may lead to overlapping authority unless responsibilities are clearly defined.

For now, the Congress leadership has sought to send a message of unity and collective responsibility. Whether the latest formula ends factional tensions or simply postpones them is likely to become clearer as the party begins preparations for upcoming elections and campaign activities across Punjab.

The coming months are expected to provide a clearer picture of how the new leadership structure functions and whether it succeeds in consolidating the Congress organisation in the state.