Overview
- The Congress kicked off its 'Har Booth Mazboot' booth-level mobilisation in Punjab during Bhupesh Baghel’s visit that began with events on July 31 while a parallel organisational push took place in Haryana in late July.
- Baghel led the Punjab campaign launch and has begun a multi-day state tour to press for unity, warn against indiscipline, and insist the party will name its chief ministerial candidate only after the 2027 poll.
- Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring publicly ruled himself out of the chief minister race and pledged to stay in the party even if denied a ticket or removed as state president.
- Public disruptions by supporters of former CM Charanjit Singh Channi — including pro-Channi slogans and clashes at Patiala and Sangrur on August 1 — prompted Baghel to threaten disciplinary action and exposed unresolved factional tensions.
- The Congress frames the mobilisation as vital to reversing its 2022 losses by converting booth organisation into votes but the party’s internal row and competing claims about AAP defections risk undermining outreach, so Baghel’s next moves on discipline and candidate strategy will be decisive.