The Congress is likely to make a few appointments relating to the election-going states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 18. In Punjab, the process began earlier and was completed with AICC secretary Asha Kumari being made in charge of the State.
Apart from former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who will probably be named campaign committee chief for Uttar Pradesh, AICC secretary Suraj Hegde — who is close to vice president Rahul Gandhi — may be made in-charge of Goa, it is learnt.
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Senior party sources told The Hindu that they found it disconcerting that only appointments related to election-going States are being made, instead of a full-fledged reshuffle.
“We don’t really know what is happening: there should be an effort to put a full team on the ground. Instead, it is all pegged to the elections – and that, too, just six months ahead of the polls. It does not give the new people a chance to get their act together,” a senior party functionary said.
Recently on June 12, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was made general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, and senior most Lok Sabha MP Kamal Nath general secretary in charge of Punjab and Haryana with great fanfare.
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But just three days later on June 15, Mr Kamal Nath was forced to resign with the Aam Aadmi Party dredging up old allegations about his involvement in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, though he has since been given a clean chit.
A party functionary said: “Clearly not enough home work was done — it just ended up embarrassing the party. Strangely, when Mr Kamal Nath was first sounded out for general secretaryship, he was told he would be in charge of U.P.! Now, for Punjab, he has been replaced by the relatively unknown Asha Kumari, who is an MLA from Himachal Pradesh. ”
After Mr Kamal Nath was taken off Punjab, it was made clear that he would be given another State apart from Haryana to handle but 25 days later, no announcement has yet been made. Meanwhile, Mr Kamal Nath is confined to flying to Haryana to investigate the Rajya Sabha imbroglio, in which 14 of the party’s 17 votes were declared invalid, while a fifteenth ballot was submitted blank.
Punjab problemsMeanwhile, there appears to be differences within the party on the strategies for Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with the appointment of poll strategist Prashant Kishore for the two states.
In Punjab, a senior Congress leader told The Hindu , “It’s like Prashant Kishore is running the Amarinder campaign, while the party organisation is running a separate one for the party. Mr Kishore feels party workers don’t matter.”
Difficulties in U.P.In U.P., too, Mr Kishore has raised a few hackles, with CLP leader Pradeep Mathur having lodged his protest, reportedly at having to take orders from the strategists. Of course, the entry of Mr Azad has smoothened things a bit, but the strategy for the State is yet to emerge.