New Delhi: Even as the Congress party continues to grapple with factional clashes over its leadership, its interim president Sonia Gandhi has now enlisted senior leaders Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel to oversee campaign management and coordination in the upcoming assembly polls in Kerala and Assam.
On Wednesday, Gandhi constituted four groups for poll-bound states – Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and West Bengal. Each group consists of three senior leaders, all of whom were appointed as “senior observers”. The groups were later approved by the AICC general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal.
The inclusion of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh chief ministers Gehlot and Baghel in the groups is being interpreted as a significant intervention by the central leadership in the party’s preparations for the upcoming assembly polls in Kerala and Assam. In both states, Congress is the primary opposition and expects to dislodge the incumbent governments.
Gehlot’s inclusion in the Kerala group is interesting as he will now face a Herculean task to revive his party’ prospects in the Christian-dominated south and central regions of the state where Congress has faced considerable reverses in the recently-concluded local body polls. He will also have to grapple with severe infighting in the party’s rank and file over Ramesh Chennithala’s leadership in the assembly. Along with Gehlot, senior leaders Luizinho Faleiro and G.Parameswara have also been appointed as senior observers in Kerala. Together, they will have to woo Christian leaders back into the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s fold.
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The Indian Express reported that the AICC in-charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, has already initiated the process and recently met Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Malankara Catholic Church, Cardinal Baselios Mar Cleemis, on Tuesday. Senior leaders also met Mar Thoma Church episcopal, Joseph Mar Barnabas.
Similarly, the party’s high command to put Baghel in control of Assam also reflects its proactive attitude towards filling up the state leadership vacuum after former chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s death last year. Congress recently faced setbacks in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and Tiwa Autonomous Council (TAC) elections, while two of its MLAs – Ajanta Neog and Rajdeep Goala – joined the BJP.
The grand-old party has been in a dilemma whether to ally with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF which has a substantial presence among Bengali-origin Muslims of the state. Tarun Gogoi and his aides had been an ardent opposer of the alliance while another camp in the party is open to the idea.
Senior leaders Mukul Wasnik and Shakeel Ahmad Khan will also be a part of the Assam group, along with Baghel.
In West Bengal, the group will be led by former Rajya Sabha MP B.K. Hariprasad, Jharkhand leader Alamgir Alam, and Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla. Its first task would be to finalise the seat-sharing talks with the Left front. The AICC in-charge of the state Jitin Prasada has asked the state unit to finalise seat sharing by the end of this month.
Former Karnataka chief minister M. Veerappa Moily, former Union defence minister M.M. Pallam Raju and Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut have been given the responsibility of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. All the groups are expected to work in close coordination with AICC general secretaries and state in-charges, Venugopal told the press.