Sonia Gandhi rejigs Congress after G-23 shock

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday carried out organisational changes, dropping veteran leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge as AICC general secretaries while handing our key responsibilities to leaders considered close to Rahul Gandhi.

Besides Azad and Kharge, Gandhi dropped veteran leaders Motilal Vora, Ambika Soni, Luizinho Faleiro as AICC general secretaries, while young leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh were appointed as general secretaries. Dinesh Gundu Rao, Manickam Tagore, Vivek Bansal have been made AICC in charge of states.

Karnataka leaders H K Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao got important responsibilities while Veerappa Moily and Siddaramaiah were dropped from Congress Working Committee.

Gandhi also appointed a six-member committee with A K Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and Surjewala as members to assist her in the day-to-day functioning of the party.

The AICC reshuffle comes a little over a fortnight after the stormy meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) over the letter written by 23 party leaders, who sought a “full-time and effective leadership” that is “active” and “visible” in the field.

However, the Congress president did not appear to be too harsh on the ‘dissenters’ as Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, Jitin Prasada, Arvinder Singh Lovely — part of the G-23 — have landed key organisational responsibilities.

Surjewala appears to be the biggest gainer in the reshuffle, as he was elevated to the post of AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka and also included in the six-member committee to advise the Congress President. He also retains charge of the communications department of the party.

Gandhi also reconstituted the Central Election Authority with Madhusudan Mistry as chairman and Rajesh Mishra, Krishna Byregowda, S Jothimani and Arvinder Singh Lovely as members.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will continue to be in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, while Rahul loyalist Dinesh Gundu Rao, Manickam Tagore, Vivek Bansal have been made AICC in-charges of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Haryana respectively.

Another Rahul loyalist Jitendra Singh has been elevated as AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam, while Ajay Maken and Venugopal continue to be in-charge of Rajasthan and Organisation respectively. AICC general secretary and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has been shifted from Assam to Punjab, while former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy continues to be in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.

Tariq Anwar, who recently quit the NCP to re-join the Congress, has been made AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Veteran Karnataka leader H K Patil has been made AICC in-charge of Maharashtra, succeeding Kharge. Former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will be AICC in-charge administration.

‘Dissenters’ Azad, Sharma and Wasnik have retained the positions as members of the Congress Working Committee, which now has new entrants Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ajay Maken, P Chidambaram, Jitendra Singh, Surjewala, and Tariq Anwar.