Cong constitutes 8-member coordination panel in Uttarakhand

Seeking to put its house in order in Uttarakhand where assembly elections are due next year, Congress has set up an eight-member coordination committee for smooth interaction between the party and the government.
AICC general secretary in-charge for the state Ambika Soni heads the panel, which has Chief Minister Harish Rawat, his arch rival and former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and PCC chief Kishore Upadhyaya among the members.
Ministers in the state government Indira Hridyesh and Preetam Singh, AICC secretary in-charge for the state Sanjay Kapoor and Sarita Arya are other members in the panel, which was approved by party President Sonia Gandhi today.

It was after Bahuguna's resignation that Rawat had taken over the reigns of power on February 2014. Earlier when Bahuguna was made Chief Minister almost two years ago, Rawat's camp had revolted.
Apart from the two rivals, there are other faultlines also in the faction-ridden state unit. Congress bets high on the state while BJP is making concerted efforts to stage a comeback in the hill state.
In another decision, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who is in-charge of Mahila Congress, today appointed Jansirani M as president of the Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress, replacing incumbent S Vijayadharani, who had launched quite a campaign for removal of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E V K S Elangovan.

The decision is being interpreted as an apparent crackdown on dissidence within the Tamil unit of the Congress.

The party today also announced candidates for assembly bye-elections for one seat each in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
It has fielded Manish Patel from Maihar in Madhya Pradesh and Rajendra Gavit from the reserved seat of Palghar in Maharashtra. Gavit was a former tribal development minister in the previous Congress-NCP government in the state.
Patel fielded from Maihar, is a former BSP leader, who joined Congress last week.
He had contested the last assembly elections in 2013 on BSP ticket unsuccessfully in Maihar and secured more than 40,000 votes to register his presence in the constituency.

Maihar bypoll is crucial for Congress as its sitting MLA, Narayan Tripathi resigned from the party and joined BJP during Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Polls are scheduled to take place on the seats on February 13.