Congress' Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala get new assignments; party replaces its UP chief

Congress on Thursday made significant organisational changes by appointing senior General Secretary Mukul Wasnik as Gujarat in-charge with Randeep Surjewala being given additional charge of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also replaced the Uttar Pradesh chief of the party Brijlal Khabri, a Dalit, with former MLA Ajay Rai, an upper caste leader who contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and worked under the outgoing president as Prayag region head.

Wasnik replaces Raghu Sharma, a leader from Rajasthan, months after senior MP Sahaktisinh Gohil was appointed Gujarat Congress president. Sources said Wasnik's appointment comes as Congress plans to launch an aggressive campaign in the state where it has not won a single Lok Sabha seat in the last two elections.

Also, Wasnik will steer the party on whether to align with AAP, whose leaders have been claiming that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will align with Congress in Gujarat. AAP wants to fight at least one seat. Wasnik also has the seniority to control warring factional leaders in the state unit.

One of the first assignments for Wasnik will be to rejuvenate the party unit, which is still reeling under its disastrous performance in the last Assembly election where it was decimated to 17 seats with a substantial chunk of its vote going to the AAP, which won five seats.

Surjewala will hold additional charge of Madhya Pradesh along with Karnataka, where under his watch the party emerged victorious in the Assembly election in May earlier this year. This assignment comes as a recognition to the leader hailing from Haryana after the party's victory in Karnataka.

The party also chose to appoint a new president for its Uttar Pradesh unit, replacing Dalit leader Khabri within 11 months of his appointment. Khabri's replacement Rai is considered an aggressive leader, who fought against Modi in Varanasi.

A Bhumihar by caste, Rai has connections in the community across the state. Khabri, the 61-year-old leader known for his organisational skills, was brought in with an expectation to act as a “bridge” between the party and the Dalit community in the state.