New Delhi: The much-talked-about Congress reshuffle is finally underway. In less than a week, at least 17 new appointments have been made to the party organization, including key changes in poll-bound states.
The slew of internal changes has the clear imprint of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, evident from the choice of leaders. Ten of the 17 are under 50 years of age, and most of them have been handpicked by him.
The changes are also a sign of action being taken against underperformers.
On Thursday, former Rajya Sabha member Avinash Pande was promoted as the general secretary in charge of Rajasthan along with a young team of four secretaries. Sunil Jakhar was appointed chief of the Punjab state unit, replacing chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Pritam Singh was made the new chief of the Congress unit in Uttarakhand, a state Congress lost earlier this year, replacing Kishore Upadhyay.
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“...with these changes, there is an attempt by the party president (Sonia Gandhi) and vice-president to promote young leadership. Apart from this, there is also an attempt that those associated with long political experience, those who have been popular leaders, most of whom have been legislators and lawmakers, should be given an opportunity,” chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.
Interestingly, a number of newly appointed leaders have come from frontal organizations of the Congress. The changes are also significant because the Congress’s organizational election process is underway and is likely to be completed by October.
“This is not just about a rejig or new appointments. Congress party needs to come up with a new generation of leaders and train them in the political battlefield to combat the young leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. In that sense, this move is in line with Congress needing young leaders who would last at least 20 years in politics,” said Jai Mrug, a Mumbai-based political analyst.