NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday announced a major organisational reshuffle, appointing Sachin Pilot as the party’s general secretary in-charge of poll-bound Punjab and shifting former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel to Assam.
The party also named Randeep Singh Surjewala as its general secretary in-charge of Gujarat. Surjewala will continue to oversee Karnataka, where the Congress recently witnessed a change of chief minister from Siddaramaiah to D K Shivakumar.
The organisational changes come ahead of crucial assembly elections. Punjab is scheduled to go to the polls early next year, while Gujarat will hold its assembly elections later in 2027.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also effected changes in the party’s organisational leadership in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
According to a statement issued by AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, Kharge has reassigned and appointed party functionaries as AICC general secretaries and state in-charges with immediate effect.
Sukhdeo Bhagat has been appointed as the Congress in-charge for Chhattisgarh, while Dr Sirivella Prasad will oversee Maharashtra and P V Mohan has been assigned charge of Andhra Pradesh.
The party thanked outgoing general secretaries and state in-charges Jitendra Singh, Ramesh Chennithala and Manickam Tagore for their contributions.
Mukul Wasnik will continue as an AICC general secretary, the statement said. He has, however, been relieved of his responsibility as the party’s in-charge for Gujarat. Jitendra Singh has also been removed as Assam in-charge.
Both Singh and Wasnik are regarded as leaders with close links to the Gandhi family.
Tagore, who was earlier responsible for Telangana, was recently appointed president of the Tamil Nadu Congress following the party’s electoral victory in the state in alliance with actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
The reshuffle assumes significance for the Congress in Punjab, where the state unit has been facing internal factionalism ahead of the assembly elections. Party sources indicated that further changes in the Punjab organisation could be announced soon as part of efforts to strengthen the party’s electoral machinery.
The appointment of Pilot, a prominent Congress leader, to oversee Punjab is being seen as part of the party’s efforts to intensify its organisational preparations in the state.
With the latest changes, the Congress has sought to align its state-level leadership ahead of a series of politically significant assembly elections and strengthen its organisational structure in states where it faces electoral challenges.