In a first, Congress appoints observers for district-level reorganisation

New Delhi: Kickstarting the process of reorganising its district committees from April 15, Congress on Saturday appointed 43 AICC Observers, including senior leaders like B K Hariprasad, Balasaheb Thorat and Manickam Tagore, and 183 PCC observers to carry out the exercise in Gujarat.

This is the first time the Congress is appointing observers for the process of appointing its district presidents. So far, the decision has been taken by the Congress president after consulting state leadership.

Among the 43 AICC Observers who are tasked with overseeing the process of selection and appointment of the Presidents of District Congress Committees, four — Hariprasad, B M Sandeep, Suraj Hegde and B V Srinivas — are from Karnataka.

A group of four PCC observers, along with an AICC Observer as Convenor, will be assigned to each of the 41 District Congress Committees. The four AICC Secretaries already assigned to Gujarat will coordinate the exercise in their respective zones.

The first meeting of all Observers will be held on April 15 in Modasa in Aravalli district. Other AICC Observers include Meenakshi Natarajan, Praniti Shinde, Harish Chaudhary, Girish Chodankar, Vijay Inder Singla and Imran Masood. Seven Supporting Observers are also attached with the AICC Observers.

Among the state observers are senior leaders Amit Chavda, Bharatsinh Solanki, Jagdish Thakor, Ameeben Yajnik and Laljibhai Desai.

The central leadership is also in the process of appointing AICC and state observers for Rajasthan, where the first meeting is scheduled for April 28.

At the AICC Session in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that district committees and presidents will get more power in the revamped organisation structure.

The Congress had, in its Extended Working Committee in Belagavi on December 26 last year, decided that 2025 will be a year of organisational revamp by making the district committees the pivot of the party.

The central leadership has already met 862 district presidents in three batches in Delhi, where they were indicated about the unprecedented authority they would be getting.

The new charges include appointing or sacking office-bearers, which otherwise was done by the state unit, but with a warning that they will not be allowed to play favourites. They will also have more of a role in candidate selection.

From now on, there will also be a mechanism for direct and regular communication between the central leadership and district presidents. The district presidents have also been asked to set up various wings like media, social media and other departments. An Asset and Properties Department should also be set up, they have been told.