Ramesh, Scindia, Pilot may work for party

Staunch Rahul Gandhi loyalists Jairam Ramesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot are learnt to be preparing to quit the government to work for the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The three ministers may be given key responsibilities within the party as Gandhi is working on revamp of the organisation to make it fighting fit to take on the challenge posed by a resurgent BJP and the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party.

Ramesh, the Union Minister for Rural Development, has already been assigned work by the party to ensure that promises made in the manifesto are implemented in Manipur, Mizoram, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

He has also been made convener of a small group which will serve as a secretariat for the Election Coordination Committee chaired by Rahul Gandhi.

The names of Scindia and Pilot are doing the rounds for the post of presidents of the party units in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively.

However, the two are facing stiff opposition from local leaders who claim that the young leaders had failed to perform in Assembly elections in the two states last month.

Scindia was in charge of the campaign committee in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress won 58 seats in the 230-member Assembly, seven seats less than the party had in the previous House.

Similarly, the Congress lost all the eight Assembly segments in Ajmer, Pilot’s Lok Sabha constituency.

The three ministers are expected to meet Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday to discuss their future political roles.

Ramesh is learnt to be preparing the party’s strategy for discussion on the Telangana Bill which is expected to be taken up for consideration and passing by Parliament when it meets early February.