With gang violence and public safety emerging as major political flashpoints in Punjab, the Congress is set to take its offensive against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government directly to the homes of victims’ families.AICC general secretary and Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot will embark on a five-day tour of the state from October 16 to meet families of those killed in incidents of gang-related violence, turning their wait for justice into a central plank of the Congress’s political campaign against the Bhagwant Mann government.The yatra will cover 11 districts — Moga, Bathinda, Mansa, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar. Pilot will visit the homes of bereaved families, offer condolences and hear their accounts of the crimes, police investigations and the government’s response.The initiative signals the Congress’s attempt to move beyond routine political allegations and build its case against the AAP government around the experiences of families affected by violence. The party intends to use these interactions to question the government’s claims on governance and public safety and demand accountability for cases in which investigations or trials have allegedly made little progress.PPCC chief Pargat Singh said several families have waited months, and in some cases years, for arrests, chargesheets or movement in court proceedings. A number of killings have been claimed by or linked to organised gangs, raising questions that the Opposition says the government cannot afford to ignore.For Pilot, the tour will also be a test of the Congress’s ability to convert public anger over law and order into a sustained political campaign across Punjab. By visiting victims’ families rather than limiting its response to press conferences and statements, the party hopes to give a human face to its attack on the state government.The Congress has accused the AAP government of failing to rein in organised gangs and ensure a sense of security among the people. It plans to take the grievances documented during the tour to the state government and, where necessary, the courts.The yatra comes as the Congress seeks to sharpen its political challenge to the AAP ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Law and order is likely to figure prominently in that contest, with the Opposition seeking to make the government answer for its handling of gang violence and the families’ pursuit of justice.For the Mann government, the Congress’s campaign poses a political challenge: allegations of administrative failure can be contested, but the concerns of bereaved families and the pace of justice are likely to remain difficult questions to brush aside.The effectiveness of Pilot’s intervention, however, will depend on whether the tour leads to concrete follow-up on individual cases or remains an opposition campaign centred on political allegations.