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An organisational reshuffle of the Congress party took place today, bearing the stamp of the scion at the helm, Vice President Rahul Gandhi. A similar shake-up in the Union cabinet could take place as early as tomorrow.
The first signals came with the Saturday night resignation of Ajay Maken and this morning of C P Joshi from the cabinet. The former takes the important role of party general secretary in charge of the media department, renamed the communication department. He replaces old guard Janardan Dwivedi. It was a given that a younger face would be taking on the media wing, as Gandhi has been trying to revamp the party's communication strategies, focusing on social media, online outreach through websites, blogs and reshuffling spokespersons. Lok Sabha member Priya Dutt will move up from being secretary of the Mahila Congress to secretary under Maken.
Joshi was, according to sources, taken by surprise himself, as the decision to redraft him into party work was a late decision by the high command, possibly as late as yesterday. Earlier, he was given to understand that he would be retaining the railways portfolio and also focusing on the Rajasthan assembly polls. However, he has been made general secretary and entrusted with charge of West Bengal, Bihar and Assam, all politically complex states, in a changing landscape.
Dwivedi said, "Unlike in the past, general secretaries have been assigned states adjoining to each other and not in completely different regions", indicating a Rahul Gandhi stamp on the reshuffle. Gandhi himself will be retaining charge of all frontal organisations, including the youth and student wings and the Seva Dal.
Leaders have been elevated and also dropped. Ambika Soni, who resigned as cabinet minister in the previous reshuffle and is known to be close to party president Sonia Gandhi, has been assigned the new task of managing the CPO (Congress President's Office). She will also be in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the run up to 2014. Another Rahul confidant, rewarded in this rejig, is Madhusudan Mistry, who delivered the landmark victory in the recent Assembly polls in Karnataka. His efforts will again be in demand once he takes over as incharge of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party's new poll campaign chief, Narendra Modi, making it clear that UP is where he will train efforts, Mistry has a big task.
Those dropped include Birender Singh, G S Charak, Jagdish Tytler, D Shandil, Oscar Fernandes, Mohsina Kidwai, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jagmeet Singh Brar. Dwivedi is now incharge of tasks that Fernandes used to have, such as AICC meetings, sessions, departments, etc.
Digvijay Singh's earlier task of UP is now with Mistry and Singh would be charged with retaining the very difficult task of managing the Telangana agitation-ridden Andhra Pradesh, as well as Goa and Karnataka.
Sookesperson Shakeel Ahmed has been entrusted with retaining the party's three-term hold in the city of Delhi. Adjoining Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh will also be under him. Former Union minister Mukul Wasnik will be in charge of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Lakshwadweep. Mohan Prakash will be in charge of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body, has new entrants -- Maken, Joshi, Gurudas Kamat, Mistry, Mohan Prakash and Luizinho Faleiro. Among the new permanent invitees are Beni Prasad Verma, former Punjab head Amarinder Singh and S M Krishna.
It will now be a new team calling the shots under Rahul's supervision, although Sonia Gandhi will officially still be at the helm of affairs.
