Gujarat: Congress observer list shows Gehlot effect as Rajasthan gets maximum participation

AHMEDABAD:  Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Congress has appointed observers to 26 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, fielding 37 leaders from across the country, with Rajasthan getting the maximum participation.

Party leaders from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh have become the observers, a status that the party gives to its trusted leaders. Of the 37 observers, 23 are from Rajasthan, including 13 ministers and 10 MLAs, as per the party’s notification on Wednesday.

"The Congress president has approved the proposal of the appointment of working presidents of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect. They are Lalit Kagathara, MLA, Jignesh Mevani, MLA, Rutvik Makwana, MLA, Ambarish J Der, MLA, Himmatsingh Patel, MLA, Kadir Pirzada and Indravijaysinh Gohil," according to a party statement.

Assembly elections are expected to be held in Gujarat in November-December this year.

In another communication, the party announced the appointment of Priyank Kharge as chairman of the Communications and Social Media unit of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect.

Kharge is the son of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

He is a legislator in Karnataka.

Party leader Mansoor Ali Khan has been appointed Co-chairman Communications, while Dinesh Guligowda, MLC, and Ramesh Babu, ex-MLC, have been appointed as vice chairmen of Communications in Karnataka.

Nagraj Yadav, MLC, has been made the chief spokesperson-cum-convener (communications) in the southern state.

Lavanya Ballal, Kavitha Reddy, Nagalakshmi and Aishwarya Mahadev have been appointed as spokesperson cum general secretary, communications, in Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

"The AICC has approved the appointment of Sasikanth Senthil as chairman of the war-room of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee for the upcoming assembly elections, with immediate effect.

Sunil Kanugolu will remain the overall incharge," said another communication from the party.

Suraj Hegde, vice president, KPCC and Mehroz Khan, general secretary, KPCC, will coordinate the day-to-day activities of the war room, it also said.

Karnataka will go to polls next year and the Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP.

These observers will submit their reports to the All India Congress Committee after interacting with leaders in 182 Assemblies. Since Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have Congress governments, observers from these states may be in a better position to offer suggestions to the Gujarat unit.

However, all the Rajasthan observers are said to be close to CM Ashok Gehlot, who has earlier been in charge of Gujarat. Meanwhile, factionalism within the party is getting worse.

The leadership is upset over Congress leaders wearing saffron scarves, and also with the performance of state Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma as many leaders and have joined BJP.

Over the last few days, the party has apparently held meetings in Delhi where national-level leaders have interacted with the state team.

(With PTI Inputs)