Eye on LS polls, AICC revamp likely

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is set to revamp the AICC secretariat to spruce up the organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is set to revamp the AICC secretariat to spruce up the organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. Sources say she will soon effect a minor reshuffle at different levels, including the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Central Election Authority and also in the portfolios of AICC general secretaries.

Newly-elected Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi and also a CWC member, will be relieved of organisational responsibilities. Following the resignation of Margaret Alva from the membership of CWC as also AICC general secretary, the states under her charge had been temporarily entrusted to different leaders.

The temporary arrangement, however, does not seem to be working. For instance, the Defence Minister who was given charge of Maharashtra has been facing flak for involving himself too much into organisational affairs, even as Mumbai terror attacks exposed the vulnerability of the country’s maritime security. After the party’s loss in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, there is also a question mark on the continuance of AICC general secretary in charge of these states V Narayansami.

MP PCC chief Suresh Pachauri and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Dhanendra Sahu have offered to resign, but the Congress president is yet to take a call on this. CWC member Ajit Jogi is learnt to be keen to resign as MP and become Congress Legislature Party leader in the Chhattisgarh Assembly. If he is elected CLP leader, there would be another vacancy in the top decision-making body of the party.

Sources said the AICC revamp could be postponed till the Jammu and Kashmir elections were over as the results would determine the role of former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is learnt to be eager to return to the Centre, and Union minister Saifuddin Soz who is said to be eager to shift to the state.

Congress sources said the high command was far from elated by the overall results in the recent Assembly elections as the party’s performance in these states exposed the organisational weaknesses. Even in Rajasthan, where the party formed the Government, the result fell short of expectations with the BJP securing 78 seats despite the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje getting little support from her party and sabotage by some senior leaders from the state.