No two elections are alike, but lessons from one can shape strategy in another. With the Punjab Assembly elections around the corner, sections within the Congress are wondering whether the party will do a Kerala in the border state.Simply put, this means whether, as in Kerala, the Congress in Punjab would put state leaders at the helm of affairs while asking its MPs to steer the organisation and campaign from behind the scenes.In Kerala, the Rahul Gandhi-led strategy of denying Lok Sabha MPs from the state a chance to contest Assembly elections appeared to pay off, with regional stalwart VD Satheesan carrying the day for the party.The decision to ask even the most powerful leader in the party, AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal, to stay in the background and allow Satheesan to lead the state campaign had raised eyebrows. The gamble paid off big time as the Congress subsequently won the election, with Rahul Gandhi backing Satheesan as Chief Minister after the victory, even as Venugopal was widely believed to enjoy the support of a majority of the party’s MLAs.Kerala has 14 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, the highest among states, followed by Punjab with seven.Now, in Punjab, Lok Sabha MPs are running the show. The Punjab Congress is led by Amrinder Raja Warring, a Lok Sabha MP from Ludhiana, with key movers and shakers all sitting MPs—be it Charanjit Singh Channi (Jalandhar), Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Gurdaspur) or Amar Singh (Fahetgarh Sahib).State leaders, including Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and a former minister; Vijay Inder Singla, a former MP; and Brahm Mohindra, one of the party’s senior-most leaders in the state, remain in the backdrop as the Lok Sabha MPs drive the party’s chariot in the election-bound state.Sections within the Congress are now wondering how much of the Punjab strategy should be entrusted to sitting MPs, considering they are highly unlikely to be asked to contest the Assembly elections, as was the case in Kerala.The logic behind keeping MPs off the poll arena at the moment is simple: The BJP-led NDA Government is planning major Constitution amendment agendas, including the women’s quota and delimitation and the one nation, one election Bills, and every Opposition MP counts.The Congress, with Rahul Gandhi as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, can barely afford to lose its MPs to the Assembly poll arena.“If none of these MPs contests the Assembly elections, where does that leave the party’s plan and programme? Should the party, as in Kerala, not push state leaders to the centre stage?” asked a senior Congress leader.The leader also wondered who could replace Warring as Punjab Congress president if the party decides to change the state leadership, although there is little time left for such manoeuvring ahead of the 2027 polls.All eyes are now on Rahul and whether he will seek to replicate the Kerala experiment in Punjab.