Talk of a reshuffle in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has begun after its general secretary Mohsina Kidwai was on Saturday appointed Governor of Jharkhand.
Mr. Kidwai looked after party affairs in West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab.
At present, there are nearly half a dozen vacancies in the party hierarchy, while a number of party leaders are holding dual charges of an AICC functionary as well as a minister.
Four party general secretaries — Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik, Prithviraj Chavan and V Narayanasamy — were inducted into the Union Council of Ministers when Congress-led UPA came back to power in May last year.
Mr. Azad is in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu and Orissa, while Mr. Wasnik is in-charge of Rajasthan and Delhi.
Mr. Chavan is in-charge of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily is in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, where the announcement of a separate State of Telengana has created a row. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is the in-charge for Maharashtra.
Among others holding dual charges are C.P. Joshi, Union Minister for Rural Development, who is Rajasthan Congress chief and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the PCC chief of West Bengal.
Oscar Fernandes, who was a minister in the previous government, is likely to come back to the organisation, as a general secretary. Mr. Fernandes is considered a trouble-shooter in party circles.
At present, there are nine general secretaries. Party sources said the number could go up to 12 after the reshuffle.
Organisational changes have been necessitated as Congress has planned a year-long celebration to mark 125 years of its formation beginning December 28.
As such, the new year is likely to bring fresh faces in the AICC Secretariat as many party functionaries, who were also inducted in the Central government are likely to be divested of either of their responsibilities.
In addition, the organisational elections are scheduled to be completed by July which is expected to culminate into re-election of Sonia Gandhi as party chief for the fourth consecutive term.
Since the organisational election process has begun, a section of party leaders feel a reshuffle is unlikely.
They said there was no “immediate urgency” for filling up vacant posts and adhere to the ‘one-person-one-post’ formula.
When asked about the possibility of a reshuffle, a senior party leader said chances were always there.
His contention was that the AICC Secretariat needed to be in place to hold a plenary session and four regional conferences as part of the celebrations to commemorate 125 years of the party.
