Former Punjab sports minister Pargat Singh was appointed the new president of the state Congress hours after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring put in his papers after meeting Rahul Gandhi.A Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee, Pargat Singh is a former captain of the Indian hockey team. Singh is the MLA from Jalandhar Cantt and a former education and sports minister of Punjab.Sources said he was strongly backed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress, which had considered appointing Vijay Inder Singla as the state chief, ultimately settled for a Jat Sikh as a replacement for Jat Sikh Warring.Also Read: Resignation tendered, London trip awaits former Punjab Congress chief WarringAt present, politics in the state is revolving around the politically influential Jat Sikh community, with BJP also appointing Kewal Dhillon from the community as state president.Pargat Singh will face the onerous task of taking along a largely fractured state unit where several leaders nurture chief ministerial ambitions.Sachin Pilot, Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab, had recently told The Tribune that having many CM aspirants was a strength, not a weakness.