As the Congress prepares for vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s imminent elevation to the post of president, the party is likely to replace more State unit chiefs in the coming days. Sources said Mr. Gandhi’s appointment was likely to come through at the AICC session next month, and the contemplated changes were an attempt to make the party a fitter fighting force under him.
The high command is planning to replace the State unit chiefs of Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, sources said. The Congress on Thursday announced that it had put spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in charge of the communications department. Senior leader Janardan Dwivedi said the arrangement would continue “till further notification.”
Mr. Surjewala, who was a Minister in the Haryana government for a decade, has overtaken several seniors to take charge of the department. Ajay Maken, a party general secretary, was the chairman of the department till he was appointed chief of the Delhi State Congress earlier this week.
A final decision has been kept pending till Mr. Gandhi returns from his trip abroad.
“The party is keen to capitalise on the failures of the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana and the decline of the Indian National Lok Dal,” a party leader explained. He added that the leadership was reviewing the performance of Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar. Mr. Tanwar could be replaced with Deepender Hooda, Rohtak MP.
In Punjab, too, the party is worried over infighting. Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh have publicly expressed their differences on a number of occasions. In Madhya Pradesh, PCC president Arun Yadav’s performance is also under the scanner. The leadership feels Mr. Yadav has not been able to lead the charge against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government over the recruitment scam.
In the States where the Congress is in the Opposition, Mr. Gandhi wants aggressive, agitation politics on the lines of the campaign against the NDA’s land ordinance. “Rahul Gandhi wants State unit chiefs to be able to take everyone along or face ouster. Everyone has to prove himself despite being handpicked, or face the axe,” the sources added.
This article earlier mentioned the Haryana Chief Minister as Jagdish Khattar. The error has now been corrected.
