In the reshuffle of the AICC which brings Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chouhan as party in-charge for Karnataka, the rising stock of former chief minister M Veerappa Moily has got a further boost as he has been made head and member of several committees of the revamped party set-up.

Already holding the posts of chairman (cabinet rank) of the Administrative Reforms Commission and of the Oversight Committee on OBC quota, Moily has been given charge of the key state of Andhra Pradesh and made head of media department as well as the department of policy planning and coordination (DEPCO).

Besides these, the Congress Working Committee permanent invitee has been made member of the newly formed “group to look into future challenges” and manifesto committee. He has also been appointed ex-officio member of the publicity and publication committee.

Moily, whose reports as ARC boss were learnt to have been praised by the Prime Minister and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, has also put in-charge of Assam in the revamped AICC. He was hitherto holding charge of Tamil Nadu.

 As the party revamp has been made with an eye on the possible mid-term poll, Moily’s task as chairman of the DEPCO becomes important from this point of view. Very active until the end of 2004 Lok Sabha elections, DEPCO was wound up soon after the polls.

The body played an important role in the elections — steering the publicity and media campaign as well as developing the party’s election strategy based on detailed research on political issues. In the light of this, and with a snap poll lurking, Moily’s role as DEPCO chief may become crucial.

As for minister Chouhan, be has been made general secretary for the first time in his career.

 Besides Karnataka, he gets charges of Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura. Along with him, Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken gets charges of some states (Jharkhand and Orissa).

Another general secretary Margaret Alva has been made in charge of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Alva, who was holding charge of Madhya Pradesh and Goa, retains Maharashtra, where she was seen as opposed to the continuance of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Alva, who heads the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, is also a member of the manifesto committee.