NEW DELHI: With the upcoming Assembly elections in mind, the Congress on Tuesday appointed Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel as senior observers for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
For Gujarat, the Congress has once again relied on old hand and Gandhi family confidante Gehlot, who was former state in-charge. The party has been out of power in the state for more than two decades. He will be assisted by Chhattisgarh cabinet minister T S Singhdeo and former central minister Milind Deora, who had been sidelined in the party following his resignation as Mumbai Congress chief.
Baghel will oversee Himachal, where Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP and has better possibilities of forming a government, given the anti-incumbency. Former Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot and Punjab MLA Partap Singh Bajwa were also named as observers for the Himalayan state.