Cong pats old horses

In the reconstituted set-up, Ahmed Patel continues to be in the powerful post of political secretary to the Congress president, while Ambika Soni has been allotted the Congress president’s office as part of her responsibilities, but she has been dropped as chairperson of the media department. Girija Vyas, former Rajasthan PCC chief, has been given this post.

Ravi, who was the general-secretary in charge of the crucial Maharashtra Assembly polls, is the frontrunner for the post of Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha. He has been replaced by Margaret Alva, making it an all-woman team in that state where Prabha Rau has just been appointed the president.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been made in-charge of Punjab, mainly because of the role he played in diluting the recent SYL controversy. The rest of the Cabinet ministers, apart from Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, have found a place in the CWC. All the ex-CMs figure in the new AICC. Former MP CM Digvijay Singh is general secretary in charge of AP, Assam and Orissa.