Ahead of next year's Punjab assembly polls, the Congress party has carried out a wide reshuffle of its state in-charges, with Sachin Pilot stepping in for Bhupesh Baghel, who now takes charge of party affairs in Assam instead. The changes are not limited to Punjab and Assam alone; the party has also swapped out its point-persons for Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat in the same round of appointments.
Who Got Charge Of Which State
According to the list issued by the All India Congress Committee, Bhupesh Baghel will now oversee party work in Assam as general secretary in-charge. Randeep Surjewala has been made general secretary in-charge of Gujarat and will continue to hold responsibility for Karnataka as well, meaning he now juggles two states at once. Sachin Pilot has been handed the Punjab charge that Baghel is vacating. Sukhdev Bhagat becomes in-charge of Chhattisgarh, Shrivela Prasad takes over Maharashtra, and P.V. Mohan has been appointed in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.
Mukul Wasnik Continues In His Role
The letter sent out by the AICC confirms that Mukul Wasnik will remain in his existing position as general secretary in charge of organisation, so his role has not changed in this round of appointments. The same letter also formally acknowledges the contributions made by Jitendra Singh, Ramesh Chennithala and Manickam Tagore during their respective terms as general secretary in-charges, even as their assignments make way for the new list.
Why The Punjab And Gujarat Picks Stand Out
Of all the appointments announced, the ones drawing the most attention are Punjab and Gujarat, simply because these are the only two states on this list that are due to vote in assembly elections next year. In effect, the party has placed two of its more experienced hands in charge of exactly the states where it faces its toughest electoral tests in the near term. How Congress shapes its campaign, picks candidates and builds its local alliances in both states will now rest largely on the strategies set by Pilot in Punjab and Surjewala in Gujarat.
Sachin Pilot's Track Record
Sachin Pilot currently represents Tonk as an MLA in Rajasthan. Before this Punjab posting, he served as the party's general secretary in-charge for Chhattisgarh. Earlier still, in the union government, he held charge of the ministry covering information technology, telecommunications and corporate affairs. He is also a commissioned officer in the Territorial Army, a detail that has often been mentioned alongside his political profile.
A Question From Amarinder Singh Adds To The Buzz
The same Saturday also brought another development out of Punjab that added to the day's political buzz. Captain Amarinder Singh asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi about what he called mental Naxalism, a remark that quickly fuelled speculation in political circles over whether he might be preparing to rejoin Congress. Nothing has been officially confirmed on that front yet, and this part of the story continues to develop.
