NEW DELHI: In a major organisational shake-up ahead of the 2024 general elections, the Congress on Saturday appointed Sachin Pilot as the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh and Avinash Pande as the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Kumari Selja and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, respectively. According to a statement issued by the party, Priyanka Gandhi will now be a general secretary “without any assigned portfolio”.
Senior leaders K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, and Randeep Singh Surjewala remain general secretaries in-charge of organisation, communication, Gujarat and Karnataka, respectively.
Pilot, a former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, replaces Kumari Selja, who has now been given the charge as general secretary in-charge of Uttarakhand. The party’s move to assign a key role to Pilot is seen as an effort to placate the leader, who has been engaged in a turf war with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. In 2020, Pilot led a coup, almost toppling the Gehlot government. Though the party managed a temporary truce between the two leaders during the recent elections, it did not strike a chord with the electorate.
Congress leader G A Mir has been made the general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand with additional charge of West Bengal. Deepa Dasmunshi has been appointed the general secretary of Kerala and Lakshadweep with additional charge of Telangana. Dasmunshi replaces Tariq Anwar in Kerala.
Jitendra Singh, who is the general secretary in charge of Assam, has been given additional charge of Madhya Pradesh. Deepak Babaria, who is in-charge of Delhi, will have additional charge of Haryana. Syed Naseer Hussain will continue as in-charge of the Congress President’s office and Pranav Jha as AICC secretary in-charge of communication of the Congress Chief’s office.
The appointments come two days after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.
SPECULATION ON PRIYANKA ENTERING LS POLL FRAY
The reshuffle sparked fresh speculation over Priyanka Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls. In the recent meeting of the INDIA bloc, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly suggested that Priyanka contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.