Cong readies poll team: GPCC gets 75 gen secys, 25 vice-presidents

Senior party leaders in Gujarat termed the appointments as setting up of “Team Congress 2022” ahead of the assembly elections that are scheduled to be held in December.

However, party sources said that the appointments come in the wake of recent defections by Congress leaders to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in an attempt to boost confidence among the party cadre. Recently, GPCC president Jagdish Thakor was summoned to Delhi by Sonia Gandhi to discuss the proposed appointments ahead of the polls and the recent defections in the party.

Among the 25 newly appointed vice-presidents, a few notable names are Satyajitsinh Gaikwad, former MP from Vadodara, Geniben Thakor, MLA from Vav, Nishit Vyas, general secretary of Youth Congress, and Gayatriba Vaghela, Mahila Congress chief.

The lists of vice-presidents, general secretaries and protocols also include 10 Muslim leaders — Nazim Chauhan, Imran Malek, Naimbeg Mirza, Adam Chaki, Murtuza Khan Pathan, Zakirhusen Chauhan, Gulab Khan Rauma, Iqbal Shaikh, Sehnaz Babi and Yunus Patel.

From Saurashtra, Manoj Panara, spokesperson of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), and former MLA Indranil Rajyaguru who quit Congress weeks after losing the 2017 Assembly election, were among those elevated as general secretaries of the GPCC.

Panara, who started his political career as a BJP worker, was among the prominent faces of the Patidar quota stir in Saurashtra region and later joined the Congress. A powerful orator, Panara served as general secretary in the Morbi district unit of Congress but was dropped in the new committee formed some time ago. His wife unsuccessfully contested Morbi municipality election on a Congress ticket in 2020.

Rajyguru, who was elected the state Assembly in 2012 from Rajkot (east) seat was the wealthiest MLA in the 182-member Assembly then. However, he had lost the 2017 Assembly election to then chief minister Vijay Rupani from Rajkot (west) seat.

Six months after his defeat, Rajyaguru resigned from Congress, alleging groupism and unhappy with the style of functioning of Congress. Four years later, he is back as vice-president of the state unit of Congress.

While Dr Hemang Vasavada, who is also from Rajkot, has retained his position as vice-president, former Rajkot city unit chiefs Ashok Dangar and Jashawanti Bhatti have been elevated as general secretaries. Former Rajkot city working president Mahesh Rajpur, too, has been elevated as general secretary of the state unit while Pradeep Trivedi, the incumbent working president of Rajkot city unit, has been appointed president. The party also replaced Rajkot district unit president Hitesh Vora by Arjanbhai.

Dinesh Parmar, former MP who was sidelined after losing the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kutch seat, has also been appointed a vice-president. On the other hand, Adam Chaki, a Muslim leader from Kutch, has been elevated as general secretary of the state unit. VK Humbal and Navalsinh Jadeja, former presidents of Kutch district unit of the party, too, have been elevated as general secretaries.

Speaking to The Indian Express, GPCC spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “This is an election year and in that consideration, a team has been made where all the office-bearers will be given responsibilities. An attempt has been made to keep everyone together and progress in the party. It is a balanced list of veterans, young leaders and working professionals who have been associated with the party for a long time and are aware of ground realities.”