Rahul now has bigger say in poll matters

The Congress on Thursday went into poll mode making it now official that Rahul Gandhi would play a more prominent role in orchestrating party’s electioneering in 2014.

The Nehru-Gandhi family scion was made the head of the Election Coordination Committee of the party, constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in view of the 2014 general elections.

Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel along with senior party leaders Janardan Dwivedi, Digvijay Singh, Madhusudan Mistry and Jairam Ramesh were made members in the committee, AICC general secretary and head of the party’s media department Janardan Dwivedi announced.

As announced by the Congress president during the party’s recent “Samvad Baithak”’ at Surajkund in Haryana, a pre-poll alliance sub-group was also constituted by her.

The six-member group, to be headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, will comprise Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily, former Cabinet minister Mukul Wasnik and senior party leader Mohan Prakash.

Antony was entrusted with additional responsibility of heading the party’s manifesto and government programmes sub-group, set up by Gandhi. Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Shushil Kumar Shinde, Anand Sharma and Salman Khurshid were made members of the 10-member sub-group, besides senior party leaders Renuka Choudhary and Ajit Jogi.

Senior party leader Digvijay Singh, who has been of late one of the most vocal faces of the party, was given charge of looking after party’s publicity and campaign in view of the 2014 polls.

The Congress president made Singh head of the communications and publicity sub-group, comprising Union Ministers Manish Tewari, Jyotiraditya Scindiya and senior party leader Ambika Soni.

The move to give Rahul a more prominent role in party’s electioneering in 2014 was seen as a precursor to his projection as the party’s face in the coming poll battle.