Kamat's elevation welcomed in Maharashtra

Congress leaders in Mumbai and Maharashtra welcomed the appointment of MP Gurudas Kamat as party general secretary and in-charge of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Kamat, 58, representing Mumbai North-West constituency in Lok Sabha, has also been elevated to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body.

The new appointments came exactly two years after Kamat quit the cabinet in July 2011 in a huff but continued to work for the party in the state.

"I thank the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi for the confidence reposed in me by appointing me AICC general secretary. I shall do the utmost to justify the confidence," Kamat said in a statement here.

State Congress president Manikrao Thakre and Mumbai Congress chief Prof. J.C. Chandurkar also welcome Kamat's appointment to the key posts.

"Kamat has been a five-time MP and has vast experience of serving the organisation at various levels. He will definitely help the party in the forthcoming Rajasthan assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections in 2014," Chandurkar said.

Besides Kamat's appointment, Thakre also lauded the appointments of state MP Mukul Wasnik as general secretary and Mohan Prakash, who will continue to retain his responsibility of Maharashtra as general secretary.

Other major appointments from Maharashtra include Murli Deora, Shivajirao Deshmukh and Vilas Muttemwar as permanent invitees to the CWC.