Congress, Rana Gurjeet to hold parallel rallies in Sultanpur Lodhi today

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) and Congress MLA from Kapurthala, Rana Gurjeet Singh, are heading for a showdown with both groups slated to hold parallel rallies at Sultanpur Lodhi on Saturday.

Rana Gurjeet, a sugar baron, will be accompanied by his son Rana Inder Partap Singh, an independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi, at the event named ‘Nawin Soch, Nawan Punjab’. On the other hand, PPCC chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, along with leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Ravindra Uttam Rao Dalvi, co-incharge of Punjab Congress, are going to be part of the rally, being organised by former MLA Navtej Singh Cheema.

On March 10, Rana Gurjeet Singh, in a rally in Muktsar, the home turf of the PPCC chief, had offered to buy the maize crop on minimum support price (MSP) for two seasons—2025 and 2026— for his ethanol units drawing sharp criticism from his party colleagues including Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.

Both Rana Gurjeet and Cheema were political bête noire. In the 2022 assembly polls, Rana rebelled against the Congress party and fielded his son from the Sultanpur Lodhi assembly constituency against party candidate Cheema. Rana Inder Partap Singh won the election with a huge margin, polling 41,337 votes (38.24%), while Cheema remained fourth with 13,396 votes (12.45%).

Both groups have been mobilising their respective workers to garner maximum support for their rallies.

Cheema said the PPCC announced this rally, as part of its vision for 2027 assembly polls, nearly 10 days ago, and the Congress party has been preparing for this rally since then.

“On the other hand, baffled by the response we are getting, Rana Gurjeet and his son announced a parallel rally four days ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, both Rana and his son could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, but his media team stated that the rally would be focussed on the campaign launched by them related to the promotion of maize crop in the state. They added that the farmers, along with their supporters are going to be part of it.

Rana and his son, Rana Inder Pratap Singh, own five ethanol plants having a daily requirement of 4,000 tonnes of maize.