Beset with severe factionalism, Punjab’s principal opposition party, the Congress, is unlikely to name a chief ministerial candidate for the 2027 Assembly elections.With Sachin Pilot taking over as AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab, the party has quietly reset its electoral strategy with an eye on the future. Unlike in the previous two elections, the Congress, sources say, has decided not to project a chief ministerial candidate until after the elections this time and to let the results do the talking. The message from the high command appears to be clear: the election comes first, the Chief Minister later.The decision, informed leaders say, is a political imperative shaped by years of factional battles plaguing the Punjab Congress.According to senior sources, the leadership believes declaring a CM face before the election would immediately reopen the power struggle between rival camps at a time when the Congress wants every leader focused on taking on the Aam Aadmi Party government. The priority, sources said, is to bring the party together, fight the election under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and decide the legislature party leader only if the Congress returns to power.Pilot has publicly endorsed the same line, saying the Congress will contest the Punjab election as a united team and that Rahul Gandhi will lead the campaign.The strategy marks a clear departure from the Congress’ recent history in Punjab. In 2017, the Congress delayed announcing Captain Amarinder Singh as its chief ministerial candidate until the final phase of the campaign. Rahul Gandhi formally declared Amarinder the CM face on January 27, 2017, just days before Punjab voted on February 4. The late announcement helped the party avoid months of internal debate while still entering the election with its tallest leader at the forefront.The gamble paid off. Amarinder led the Congress to a comfortable majority. But the victory did not end the leadership battle. Instead, it shifted it inside the government.The bitter power struggle between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu eventually paralysed the state unit. Amarinder was made to resign as Chief Minister in September 2021 after losing the confidence of the party leadership, and the Congress gambled by projecting Charanjit Singh Channi as the CM face, making him also the first-ever Dalit to enter the CM race historically dominated by Jat Sikhs.The events of 2022 offered another lesson. Initially, the Congress insisted it would fight under collective leadership and refused to project a CM candidate. But the public contest between Channi and then state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu made that position increasingly difficult to sustain. Finally, Rahul Gandhi announced Channi as the chief ministerial face less than two weeks before polling.The decision settled one debate but exposed another. The campaign never fully escaped the shadow of internal rivalry, and the Congress suffered one of its worst defeats in Punjab as the AAP stormed to power.For the party leadership, those two elections now form a political template: announcing a CM face too early risks deepening factionalism, while delaying the decision keeps competing camps invested in a common goal.The Punjab Congress today remains a party with several power centres. Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has emerged as the organisational face of the party after leading it through the Lok Sabha elections. Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi remains one of the Congress’ biggest Dalit leaders and continues to enjoy significant political influence. Several other senior leaders also have ambitions within the state unit.Sources said the high command does not want to signal that one leader has been chosen over another before ticket distribution, campaign planning and organisational restructuring are complete. That is also why Pilot’s appointment is being viewed as more than a routine organisational reshuffle.Pilot had replaced former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, whose tenure as Punjab in-charge coincided with growing complaints from different factions inside the state unit.His first assignment is unlikely to be election speeches. It is restoring trust between leaders who have spent months disagreeing over organisation, appointments and political direction.Interestingly, Pilot brings his own experience of navigating factional politics after years of rivalry with Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan. In Punjab, however, his role is the opposite: preventing internal ambitions from becoming the Congress’ biggest election issue.Party leaders say Pilot is expected to oversee the next round of organisational changes before Rahul Gandhi’s proposed bus yatra in Punjab begins.The Congress is simultaneously shifting the campaign’s political focus away from the chief ministerial debate and towards Rahul Gandhi.Sources say Rahul Gandhi’s proposed Punjab bus yatra, expected after organisational changes are completed, is central to the party’s strategy of reconnecting with workers and voters across the state. The yatra is likely to begin from Amritsar after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, though discussions over the final dates and route are still underway.The idea is simple. Instead of multiple leaders competing for prominence, the campaign will revolve around Rahul Gandhi, while the state leadership works collectively on the ground.This allows the Congress to postpone its most contentious decision without entering the election without a recognisable face.