Rahul in Congress panel for UP revival
Rahul Gandhi's inclusion in the panel signals that he would be taking on responsibility for party charge in UP in the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday announced a high-powered co-ordination committee for reviving itself in Uttar Pradesh. The move comes within a month of organisational reshuffle that saw Gandhi scion Rahul made AICC general secretary and UP getting a new party chief.
The 22-member committee, expectedly, has Mr Gandhi as a member and is packed with seniors AICC general secretaries, current and previous Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chiefs, Central ministers and AICC secretaries. It will be headed by PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Mr Gandhi’s inclusion in the panel, in his capacity as an AICC general secretary, signals that he would be taking on responsibility for leading the Congress charge in the state in the next Lok Sabha elections as well. He was Congress’ main campaigner in Uttar Pradesh during the 2007 assembly elections. The Congress had hoped to better its flagging tally in the state assembly by drawing on the nostalgia of the ‘Nehru-Gandhis,’ but the party fared poorly in the election.
Mr Gandhi’s inclusion in the UP co-ordination panel suggests that he could be giving the UP conundrum another shot. This time around, however, he was helped by a number of senior party leaders. Other than Mr Gandhi, three other senior AICC general secretaries have found a place on the committee.
They are Mohsina Kidwai, Janardan Dwivedi and Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of the state. The rest of the committee too reads like a virtual who’s who of Congress’ UP leadership. Ex-UPCC chiefs Salman Khursheed, Sriprakash Jaiswal (who is also minister of state for home), Arun Singh Munna, Jagdambika Pal and former Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari are on the body along with Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Other senior leader such as Mahabir Prasad, cabinet minister in charge of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, former UP chief minister Ram Naresh Yadav and minister of state for steel Akhilesh Das are also on the panel. The six AICC secretaries who are on the panel are UP leaders Rajiv Shukla, Nirmal Khatri, Bhola Pandey, Jitin Prasad, Abdul Manan and Vivek Bansal. The CLP leader in the UP Vidan Sabha and Vidan Parishad and the AICC secretary for UP who are yet to be appointed are also a part of the co-ordination committee.
While the Congress has such co-ordination committee for all big states, party insiders said this is the first time that such an array of leaders has been put in charge of one state. The Congress earlier had eight zonal chiefs for the UP in addition to its PCC office bearers.
The 22-member committee, expectedly, has Mr Gandhi as a member and is packed with seniors AICC general secretaries, current and previous Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chiefs, Central ministers and AICC secretaries. It will be headed by PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Mr Gandhi’s inclusion in the panel, in his capacity as an AICC general secretary, signals that he would be taking on responsibility for leading the Congress charge in the state in the next Lok Sabha elections as well. He was Congress’ main campaigner in Uttar Pradesh during the 2007 assembly elections. The Congress had hoped to better its flagging tally in the state assembly by drawing on the nostalgia of the ‘Nehru-Gandhis,’ but the party fared poorly in the election.
Mr Gandhi’s inclusion in the UP co-ordination panel suggests that he could be giving the UP conundrum another shot. This time around, however, he was helped by a number of senior party leaders. Other than Mr Gandhi, three other senior AICC general secretaries have found a place on the committee.
They are Mohsina Kidwai, Janardan Dwivedi and Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of the state. The rest of the committee too reads like a virtual who’s who of Congress’ UP leadership. Ex-UPCC chiefs Salman Khursheed, Sriprakash Jaiswal (who is also minister of state for home), Arun Singh Munna, Jagdambika Pal and former Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari are on the body along with Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Other senior leader such as Mahabir Prasad, cabinet minister in charge of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, former UP chief minister Ram Naresh Yadav and minister of state for steel Akhilesh Das are also on the panel. The six AICC secretaries who are on the panel are UP leaders Rajiv Shukla, Nirmal Khatri, Bhola Pandey, Jitin Prasad, Abdul Manan and Vivek Bansal. The CLP leader in the UP Vidan Sabha and Vidan Parishad and the AICC secretary for UP who are yet to be appointed are also a part of the co-ordination committee.
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While the Congress has such co-ordination committee for all big states, party insiders said this is the first time that such an array of leaders has been put in charge of one state. The Congress earlier had eight zonal chiefs for the UP in addition to its PCC office bearers.
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