Within days of Sachin Pilot replacing Bhupesh Baghel as the AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab, Balkaur Singh, father of slain Punjabi singer and Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh aka Sidhu Moosewala, has softened his stand towards the state Congress leadership, much like former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and senior party leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.In Mansa district, Balkaur held a meeting with party workers on Saturday. A notable change was visible in the backdrop of the programme, where photographs of almost all senior Congress leaders were displayed.The stage featured pictures of former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and other district leaders. The photographs of Sonia Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and Sachin Pilot were also displayed, along with large photographs of Rahul Gandhi and Sidhu Moosewala.The development assumes significance as Balkaur had recently emerged as a vocal critic of Raja Warring.At a similar programme held on September 5 in Mansa, Balkaur had displayed a large hoarding featuring Rahul Gandhi and Sidhu Moosewala, with his own photograph in the centre. No other senior Congress leader was featured prominently on that occasion.Addressing workers on Saturday, Balkaur indicated that Pilot’s appointment had helped revive confidence among party workers. “Earlier, there was a sense of disappointment among the workers. With Sachin Pilot coming in, there is a new energy in the Congress. We are working to activate everyone. Let us move forward together,” he said.Balkaur’s earlier differences with the state leadership came into the open during the ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ programme of the Congress in Mansa on August 2, held in the presence of then Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel and Raja Warring.Directing his remarks at Warring, Balkaur had questioned the leadership’s approach towards grassroots workers and his family. He said his family had been associated with the Congress for generations and did not need anyone’s certificate to establish its loyalty.Turning emotional, Balkaur had said that his son had not merely lost an election but had lost his life, and that such a traditional Congress family could not simply be sidelined.He had also complained that despite his son contesting the 2022 Assembly election from Mansa on a Congress ticket, he lacked even the authority to appoint a booth-level worker or secure a Block Samiti ticket for a party worker. He subsequently left the venue after his address.Balkaur, who is an aspirant for the Congress ticket from Mansa, is expected to travel abroad next month for Sidhu Moosewala’s hologram tour, beginning in Toronto on October 8. Before that, he plans to cover the constituency through village- and ward-level meetings with party workers.Meanwhile, Pilot is scheduled to lead the Congress protest against Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on September 15. The programme will mark his first visit to Punjab after taking charge as the party’s state in-charge.