The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Digvijaya stripped of Goa, Karnataka charge; Mistry eased out as gen secy
CONGRESS RESHUFFLE BEGINS
SENIOR CONGRESS leader Digvijaya Singh was on Saturday stripped of the charge of Goa, where the party’s failure to form the government despite emerging as the single-largest party had come in for much criticism, and Karnataka, where Assembly elections are due next year.
The party also eased out Madhusudan Mistry, considered close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, as AICC general secretary. He was appointed as a member of the party’s central organisational election authority party rules prevent members of the authority from holding any other organisational position.
Mistry was last year removed as the party’s Uttar Pradesh incharge and was replaced by Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The moves indicate that the Congress high command has finally decided to begin the longdelayed reshuffle of the AICC, although in a piecemeal manner.
Sources in the party said more changes are in the offing. These include appointment of several new state Congress committee presidents and replacement of some general secretaries.
Digvijaya Singh’s role as AICC general secretary had come in for criticism after the Goa results, as the BJP, which came second in the elections, managed to cobble a coalition and secure the numbers to form the government. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had famously thanked Singh, saying he although the Congress leader was in Goa, he “did nothing so that I could form the government”.
Congress Lok Sabha MP from Kerala K C Venugopal will replace Singh in Karnataka. He has been elevated as a general secretary.
Venugopal will be assisted by former Lok Sabha MP Manicka Tagore, Kerala leader P C Vishnunath, former MP Madhu Yashki Goud and Sake Sailajanath. All of them have been made AICC secretaries.
Replacing Singh in Goa will be A Chella Kumar, an AICC secretary who was earlier his deputy. Chella Kumar will be assisted by Amit Deshmukh, the Congress MLA from Latur in Maharashtra and son of late party leader Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Singh will continue as general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The decision to hand over key states to young leaders K C Venugopal and Chella Kumar, and the appointment of veteran Ashok Gehlot as AICC general secretary, indicate that the party wants to put in place new teams with a mix of experience and youth.
Several Congress leaders have for long been demanding that accountability should be fixed for top AICC office-bearers. They are also advocated the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the AICC secretariat.
Last week, the party had appointed Ashok Gehlot as AICC general secretary in charge of Gujarat, replacing veteran Gurudas Kamat.
Manytopleadersappearedrelievedthatthehighcommandhas finally begun acting. “It (Congress leadership) had been sleeping for long. (It is) good to see some action and fixing of some accountability,” a senior party leader said.
Calling these changes a “small but positive beginning,” former Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo told The Sunday Express, “You just take the record of these veterans .... For the last 10 or 15 years, they (the leaders replaced) were the ones who had been dominating. See the states where they had been in charge, and see what the results had been. I am not prejudiced or biased against anyone they are all my friends - but there hastobesomeaccountabilityand responsibility.” He said that the changes are “of course welcome”.
In Gujarat, Congress leaders interpreted Mistry’s move to the election authority as a kind of demotion. Some leaders said this was due to certain internal wrangling within the AICC, and that he has fallen from favour of the party bosses.
Mistry, when contacted, told The Sunday Express that he was fully satisfied with his new assignment. “My assignment is about conducting the party’s internal elections to elect our national president,” he said.
“The next elections for the post of party president is to be completed by December this year. Since it is a full-time job, it is not possible for any member of COEC to handle any other organisational work.”
He added, “The party has reposed trust in me and that is why it has given me such an important work,” he stated.
The party’s central election authority has two other members — Mullapally Ramchandran as chairman and Bhubaneshwar Kalita as the other member.
— WITH ENS, AHMEDABAD