Ahead of a likely change of guard in the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), replacing Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, all eyes are on who will take over as the new Punjab Congress chief.An announcement is expected soon, with party circles buzzing about former Olympian and Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh, Raja Sansi MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla as possible contenders. All three are Jat Sikh leaders.Pargat, a former minister, has earlier served as PPCC general secretary (organisation) when Navjot Singh Sidhu was the state unit chief. Sarkaria had served as a PPCC vice-president and was also a former Cabinet minister. Aujla has been elected to the Lok Sabha twice.The Congress has already assigned key organisational and election-related responsibilities to all three leaders. Aujla, Pargat and Sarkaria are co-chairpersons of the party’s Manifesto Committee for the 2027 Assembly elections.Sources said that, apart from former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, a three-member panel of leaders had been shortlisted by the party high command for the PPCC chief’s post.Apart from Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have played a role in identifying probable candidates for the post.Sources said former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was also learnt to have been consulted by Sonia Gandhi on the issue. Capt Amarinder, who is now with the BJP, had, however, denied having given any such advice in a recent interview at The Tribune office, while acknowledging that he continued to have personal relations with the Gandhi family. He had also ruled out returning to the Congress.Some discreet enquiries about Warring and other leaders are also learnt to have been made by Sonia Gandhi’s office among party leaders in Punjab.A senior party leader said the new PPCC chief would have to be someone who could work with the anti-Warring camp while taking along leaders across factions in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections.Ahead of the announcement, several senior leaders have been camping in Delhi, with efforts under way to ensure that the choice of the new state unit chief is aligned with the Channi camp.The leadership question comes amid continuing efforts by the Congress to project unity ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The party recently saw senior leaders, including Warring, Pargat Singh and Sarkaria, participate in a joint protest in Chandigarh, while Aujla has also been part of recent efforts to showcase unity among leaders in the Majha region.