When Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi chose Sangrur to kickstart the party’s mission for 2027 ahead of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, the message was clear to his political rivals. He means business.The Congress (read Gandhi) is not only trying to take on the AAP’s power centre in Punjab’s heartland of Malwa which had given the latter a solid lead in the past election, in addition to its CM Bhagwant Mann, but it is also eyeing a reclaiming of the 66 seats that the AAP won that year..Also, at the heart of recent controversies, Sangrur has been on the boil recently. The alleged suicide of Gulzar Singh, a resident of Toor Banjara village in Dirba, is one of the burning issues. The incident hogged media limelight as he had publicly questioned a Punjab Minister over the availability of drugs in his village and his son’s addiction.Another incident in Sangrur that hogged limelight was related to Mohanjit Singh Sheron, a resident of Sheron village in Sangrur district. Mohanjit claims he was peacefully protesting from a distance showing a black flag and raising the drug menace issue when the police rounded him up and allegedly tortured him.The twin issues are another reason why Rahul Gandhi might have shortlisted Sangrur as he sounds the Congress poll bugle for the 2027 poll.For the Congress to do well in Punjab, or for any other party, Malwa holds the key. On Wednesday as Rahul Gandhi will speak at the “Insaaf Rally” in Sangrur, the political equation is surely weighing in his mind too.The Panthic Malwa belt, comprising 69 Assembly seats and often seen as the region that holds the key to power in Punjab, lived up to its reputation, with the party securing the maximum seats here going on to form the government. In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made deep inroads into this southern belt by winning 66 seats. The party’s previous tally stood at 18.The Congress won two seats of Gidderbaha and Abohar, while the SAD won in Dakha. AAP had a clean sweep in districts of Ferozepur, Patiala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Barnala, Faridkot, Ropar, Khanna and Ludhiana (barring Dakha).