New Delhi: Days after the five state elections, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has fast-tracked the pending All India Congress Committee (AICC) reshuffle to tone up the organization ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “Several big states don’t have a full-time in charge. The changes are needed for the 2024 national polls. Discussions have been held over the past days and an announcement is on the cards,” a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member said.
According to party insiders, the big states without full-time in charge are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra in-charge HK Patil and Tamil Nadu in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao needed to be replaced after they became ministers in the Karnataka government in May.
In Madhya Pradesh, in-charge, Karnataka Randeep Surjewala was given additional charge and UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s replacement is still awaited after the 2022 assembly polls results in which the party performed poorly. There is no one in charge of Andhra Pradesh.
The AICC reshuffle was expected after Kharge reconstituted the CWC in August but had to be postponed due to the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram, which were widely seen as a semi-final to the 2024 national polls. However, out of the five states the Congress could win only in Telangana, forcing the Congress chief to revisit his AICC reshuffle plan, said party insiders.
“It is the prerogative of the Congress president to appoint his new team at a time of his choice,” CWC member Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat. Besides the AICC appointments, new teams including state unit chiefs and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leaders are to be appointed in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which will be critical in Kharge’s 2024 polls plan, said party insiders.
Over the past two days, the newly elected MLAs in all three Hindi-speaking states met under the supervision of the AICC in charge and authorized Kharge to name the new state CLP leaders. According to party insiders, MLAs like Sachin Pilot, Harish Chaudhary and Abhimanyu Punia may be given some key party and assembly roles in Rajasthan while the names of MLAs Ajay Singh Rahul, Bala Bachchan, Umang Singhar are being discussed in Madhya Pradesh.
In Chhattisgarh, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel may be named the new CLP leader while the party may retain state unit chief Deepak Baij as he was appointed a few months before the assembly polls. While the Congress chief is pushing for organizational changes, a section of the leaders is pointing out that the new AICC appointees would get very little time in the states under their charge to deliver results as the next Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April and May 2024.
“People who get AICC roles are senior leaders and are well versed with the party system and state politics. They can adjust to the new roles even at short notice. A fresh team of younger leaders would send a good message among the party workers and voters after the three state losses which went against our expectations,” said a senior AICC functionary.
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