Congress appoints Bhupesh Baghel, Shivakumar as observers for Assam polls, Sachin Pilot for Kerala

New Delhi: Days after announcing Screening Committees to shortlist candidates, Congress on Wednesday announced senior observers to oversee election campaign in poll-bound states, assigning former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to Assam and Mukul Wasnik to Tamil Nadu.

Senior Karnataka Minister KJ George and former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot are assigned to Kerala where youth leaders Imran Pratapgarhi and Kanhaiya Kumar are also appointed as senior observers.

The appointment of Baghel and Shivakumar comes close on the heels of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being made the chairperson of Assam Screening Committee and it is seen as Congress leadership's emphasis on Assam where it hopes to stop the ten-year BJP rule. Former Jharkhand MLA Bandhu Tirkey is the third senior observer in the north-eastern state.

Apart from Wasnik, Congress has also named senior Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior leader Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin as senior observers in Tamil Nadu, where a section of party workers are demanding that the leadership should insist that the DMK should run a coalition government with Congress being a respectable partner. They will also be senior observers for Puducherry.

For West Bengal, prominent leaders Sudip Roy Barman, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Prakash Joshi will be senior observers.

From Karnataka, BK Hariprasad is heading the Screening Committee for West Bengal while senior MPs Syed Naseer Hussain will be part of the Screening Committee for Kerala and GC Chandrashekhar for the panel for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.