Major rejig in Congress as it gears up for 2024 battle

In a wide-ranging organisational reshuffle ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed three new overseers for states, including former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. Kharge also brought back four veterans to look after key states and dropped five senior leaders.

The reshuffle comes 10 months after Kharge took charge in February and four months after the Congress working committee was reconstituted in August, indicating prolonged discussions and accommodating many Gandhi family loyalists.

Former UPA minister Milind Deora, who didn’t have all India Congress committee responsibilities in the past few years, was made joint treasurer along with Vijay Inder Singla. At least five state overseers have been shifted to new states.

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Along with Pilot, who was also made a working committee member, Deepa Dasmunshi from West Bengal and former Jammu and Kashmir state unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir were the new overseers. Sachin Pilot will be in charge of Chhattisgarh and Mir will look after Jharkhand and West Bengal. Dasmunshi will be in charge of Kerala and Lakshadweep, with additional charge of Telangana.

The reshuffle was announced two days after a CWC meeting on Thursday in which some leaders questioned the slow decision-making process and the functioning of Congress headquarters. Rahul Gandhi’s trusted lieutenant KC Venugopal remained as general secretary of the organisation. Similarly, Jairam Ramesh retained his post of general secretary in charge of communication.

In the latest reshuffle, the Congress president also restructured his office, appointing Karnataka MP Nasser Hussain as team lead and Pranav Jha as communication head.

Manickam Tagore was shifted from Goa to Andhra Pradesh, Devendra Yadav left Uttarakhand for Punjab, Chella Kumar moved away from West Bengal to the North East, Jitendra Singh got additional charge of Madhya Pradesh and Kumari Selja left Chhattisgarh for Uttarakhand.

“Pilot’s responsibility in the AICC possibly signals that he might not have a major role in Rajasthan, where a leadership change is expected any time,” a senior leader said, wishing to remain unnamed.

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Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel welcomed Pilot. “Congratulations and best wishes to Congress General Secretary Sachin Pilot on being appointed in-charge of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had earlier overseen Uttar Pradesh, has not been assigned any portfolio. “She is an important leader in our national campaign for the 2024 election. Keeping her larger role and responsibilities in mind, she has not been assigned any particular state,” a Kharge aide said, declining to be named.

The Congress president also brought back veterans Ramesh Chennithala, Bharat Singh Solanki, Girish Chodankar and Mohan Prakash as state in-charges. General secretary Tariq Anwar, in-charges Bhakta Charan Das, Harish Chowdhury, Rajni Patil and Manish Chatrath have been dropped to accommodate the new faces.

“The president and other senior leaders held a long consultation before the new team was decided. We needed new leaders and those who are no more in-charge of states will play key roles in the party in some other capacity,” another party insider said on condition of anonymity.

Chennithala, a Gandhi family loyalist who held key posts in Kerala, has been given charge of Maharashtra, where his coalition management skills in his home state will come in handy. Mohan Prakash, an old socialist hand, is the new in-charge of Bihar.

“Prakash has a good equation with both Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) chief Lalu Prasad,” pointed out a Bihar leader. Bharat Sinh Solanki replaced Rajni Patil as the new in-charge of J&K, a state where elections might be held next year. Former Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar will handle a cluster of northeastern states that include Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland.

Ajoy Kumar, who handled some of these states, has been transferred to Odisha, with additional responsibility of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. A Chella Kumar, who was handling West Bengal, has been shifted to Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Manickam Tagore, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, will handle Andhra Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar.

Randeep Surjewala will continue to handle Karnataka and Sukhjit Singh Randhawa remains in charge of Rajasthan. Similarly, Rajiv Shukla continues in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Devender Yadav in Punjab, Manickrao Thackre in Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Gurdeep Sappal in administration retained their posts.

After the reshuffle, a number of new appointees expressed their gratitude to the top leadership. Congress leader Avinash Pande, who is the new overseer of Uttar Pradesh, posted on X: “With boundless gratitude for the confidence placed in me by @INCIndia President Sh @kharge ji, Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, our leader Sh @RahulGandhi ji, and Congress General Secretary Sh @kcvenugopalmp ji, and with an unswerving resolve to honor that trust, I humbly accept the appointment as the General Secretary Incharge of Uttar Pradesh.”