The Congress on Monday effected a major reshuffle in State units, including Delhi to appease its sulking vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who has been seeking greater say for his handpicked men in running the party affairs. Ajay Maken will be Delhi PCC chief, Ashok Chavan will head Maharashtra, and Ghulam Ahmed Mir has been assigned task to revive the fortune of the Congress in J&K. Bharatsinh Solanki will have the onerous responsibility of resurrecting the party in Gujarat and Uttam Reddy to lead the Congress in Telangana. AICC secretary Sanjay Nirupam has been made the chief of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee.
Rahul is understood to have been keen on carrying out these pending reshuffle. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed five new Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and one Regional Congress Committee president,” said AICC general secretary (Organisation) Janardan Dwivedi. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi brushed aside queries about a larger role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the party and appeared annoyed over repeated questions on Rahul Gandhi. “You ask the same question again and again. You will get to know when he comes back,” a visible exasperated Sonia told the media when asked about when Rahul will return from his “sabbatical.”
While Chavan replaces Manikrao Thakre, Ghulam Ahmed Mir replaces Saifuddin Soz in Jammu & Kashmir. Bharatsinh Solanki, who replaced Arjun Modhwadia as PCC chief in Gujarat, is a former Union Minister and son of former Chief Minister Madhavsinh Solanki. This is his second stint as PCC chief. He had held the post five years ago. In addition to the above names, Mallu Bhati Virkamarka, an MlA has been appointed as working president for Telangana. The new Telangana PCC chief Reddy replaces incumbent State chief Ponnala lakshmaiah, who was appointed only in March last year. Reddy was then made working president.
Maken’s return as Delhi PCC chief was imminent after he was made the Congress Campaign Committee Chief for Delhi Assembly polls. Maken replaced Arvinder Singh lovely, who was made PCC chief last year after the party’s rout in 2013 Assembly polls. The State-level changes are precursor to a rejig in the AICC, where a number of general secretaries are to be replaced before the AICC meet next month in Bengaluru.
The party has also appointed AICC General Secretary BK Hariprasad and AICC Secretary Mainul Haque as Observer and Co-Observer for the meeting to elect Congress legislature Party leader in Jammu & Kashmir. In Punjab, the name of lal Singh, a close aide of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, is doing the rounds for heading the State unit in place of Partap Singh Bajwa.
last week itself, Bihar saw a complete overhaul of office-bearers from block level to PCC level in the run up to party’s preparations towards Assembly polls in the State. At the AICC briefing when questions was asked on Chavan’s and Ahmed Mir’s appointment, the party drew parallel to Amit Shah, who was appointed as BJP chief when he was on bail from the Supreme Court. “Ashok Chavan is a very seasoned leader, who has not been convicted for any wrong doing. Amit Shah was made the president of the BJP after he had got bail from the Supreme Court,” party spokesperson Randip Surjewala said. When told that Mir has been only technically acquitted in a sez scandal, he said, “You can continue to read technicality but in Indian law, there is only one acquittal.”