NEW DELHI, 18 July 2004 — Buoyed by recent parliamentary elections turning the political tide in favor of Congress, with her eyes set on still higher goals for the party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has gone for a revamp of AICC and Congress Working Committee.
Since the Congress-led UPA came to power, Sonia had been engaged in this exercise. It was given the finishing touches after her return from Bangkok, where she had gone to attend a conference on AIDS. Senior party leader Ambika Soni made the much-awaited announcement of major changes within the party structure yesterday.
Though Rahul Gandhi does not figure in the new list of party officebearers, he is expected to play a major role in enhancing the image of the Congress.
He flew to Kumbhakonam yesterday to visit the aggrieved families affected by Friday’s devastating fire mishap in which 90 schoolchildren were burned to death.
Rahul was accompanied by Petroleum Minister Mani Shanker Aiyer. Earlier, Rahul had said that he would not accept any post in the party organization but would work for it as an “ordinary” worker.
Former Chief Ministers Digvijay Singh and Ashok Gehlot and six others have been appointed as Congress general secretaries. The post has also gone to Margaret Alva and Satyavrata Chaturvedi, Salman Khursheed and Janardan Dwiwedi. While Vayalar Ravi, R.K. Dhawan and Mohsina Kidwai have been dropped, Ambika Soni and Mukul Wasnik have retained their posts in the organization.
Ravi’s name is doing rounds as a possible consensus candidate for Rajya Sabha’s deputy chairmanship, while there are chances of Kidwai and Dhawan being included in the union Cabinet.
Being given the charge of Maharashtra, Alva has a major challenge ahead as the state will be facing assembly polls in October. This will be the first confrontation between the Congress and the BJP after the Lok Sabha polls. Chaturvedi, given charge of Uttar Pradesh, is faced with a tougher task with the Congress facing a strong challenge from Samajwadi Party as well as BJP and BSP in the state.
Digvijay Singh has been made in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Orissa, while Gehlot will look after Delhi and theparty’s frontal organizations.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and union ministers Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad retain their places in the reconstituted 23-member CWC, the highest policy making body in the Congress.
Despite the party’s failure to win a single seat in Kerala, the state Chief Minister A.K. Antony has been retained in the CWC, while his detractor K. Karunakaran, earlier a permanent invitee to CWC has been dropped. His place has gone to Ramesh Chennithala.
Interestingly, though the party and its allies swept the polls in Tamil Nadu, no leader from the state is included in the CWC or in the category of permanent/special invitees to CWC.
Earlier, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer was a special invitee to the CWC.
Ahmed Patel continues to hold the powerful post of political secretary to the Congress president, while Ambika Soni has been given the additional charge of Congress president’s office. Soni has, however, been dropped as chairperson in the media department with Girija Vyas, former Rajasthan PCC chief being given this responsibility.
While G. Venkatswami will be deputy leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Karan Singh will hold a similar position in the Rajya Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha, Pawan Bansal will be chief whip, Krishna Tirath deputy chief whip and Kirip Chaliah whip.
In the Rajya Sabha, V. Narayanswamy will be chief whip, Mool Chand Meena deputy chief whip and Prema Kariappa whip.
Delhi Minister Ajay Maken, former Youth Congress Chief Manish Tiwari and Randeep Surjewala are among the 25 secretaries of the party. In the new party structure, Maken is the only first time member of Parliament who has been made a secretary.
