In Sonia Gandhi’s Congress overhaul, new chiefs in many states

india

Updated: Sep 04, 2019 09:53 IST

An organizational reshuffle is on the cards in the Congress as party boss Sonia Gandhi gears up to put the grand old party on track.

Apart from election-bound Haryana where senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has raised a banner of revolt against state unit chief Ashok Tanwar, Gandhi is set to appoint new presidents in many states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

While the president’s post is lying vacant in Delhi after the death of Sheila Dikshit, chief minister Kamal Nath holds the post of party chief in Madhya Pradesh as well.

Similarly, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Raj Babbar has already offered to step down from the post and his replacement could be announced soon.

Sonia Gandhi took over as the party’s interim chief on August 10 after her son Rahul Gandhi rejected repeated appeals by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to take back his resignation. Rahul Gandhi had decided to step down after the party’s humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot holds the dual posts of the state Congress president and the deputy chief minister.

The axe could also fall on many general secretaries and in-charge of states. Delhi in-charge PC Chacko has urged the Congress president to relieve him off the responsibilities.

There is a possibility that he could be given the charge of Tamil Nadu as incumbent general secretary Mukul Wasnik is also looking after Kerala, Puducherry apart from the party’s central election committee (CEC).

There is a strong buzz that Tariq Anwar could get an important post in the Congress and given the charge of Delhi.

Similarly, general secretary KC Venugopal is looking after Karnataka and also holding the charge of the organisation department. He could be divested of one responsibility.

The other general secretaries and in-charge of states who are on the edge include Harish Rawat (Assam), Luizinho Falerio (North East), Deepak Babaria (Madhya Pradesh), A Chella Kumar (Goa), Anugrah Narayan Singh (Uttarakhand), Rajani Patil (Himachal Pradesh) and RC Khuntia (Telangana).

The party had recently appointed Balasaheb Thorat and Rameshwar Oraon as the new state chiefs in poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand.