THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has been appointed AICC general secretary. He was also given charge of Andhra Pradesh which will have Assembly and Lok Sabha polls simultaneously in 2019. Chandy will replace party's Andhra Pradesh affairs-in charge Digvijaya Singh.
KPCC president MM Hassan said Chandy's new positions were a recognition to the entire state unit. "Congress president Rahul Gandhi wants to utilise the organisational and administrative skills of Chandy at the national level. His six-decade-long political experience will definitely help the party," he said.
The new assignment is seen as Chandy's success in regaining the confidence of Congress leadership. Earlier, there were reports that Sonia Gandhi had displeasure over Chandy during his second term as chief minister. His alleged non-willingness to blindly obey the high command's directions and the solar panel scam were cited as reasons.