Party high command also chooses to rely on young guns by elevating Sekhri and Nagra as secretaries
Chandigarh, June 16
The Congress high command today rehabilitated former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh by making him a permanent invitee to the top decision-making body of the party — the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The CWC reshuffle also saw Ambika Soni, senior leader and Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, becoming a major power centre. She has been appointed as the general secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will also be the general secretary in charge of the Congress president's office.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC), however, has delivered a snub to former MP and senior leader Jagmeet Brar, who no longer remains a CWC member. Besides being a special invitee to the CWC, Brar was also in charge of a few states. The Congress has also put its faith in youth leaders, two of whom have been appointed as secretaries in the new-look AICC.
Sources said though the party had rehabilitated Amarinder Singh, who was in a limbo for a brief span after the elevation of Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa as Punjab unit chief in March, it stopped short of giving him a more effective role despite speculation that he would be adjusted as a general secretary.
The AICC reshuffle is bad news for Jagmeet Brar, who earlier lost the race for the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) chief’s post to Bajwa. The senior leader had become active in the state recently. Party sources are reading Brar's ouster as a signal that the party wants to strengthen the new PCC president at this crucial juncture.
The Congress high command has also chosen to ignore other senior leaders, including former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and has shown faith in the youth. Prominent Hindu leader and three-time legislator Ashwani Sekhri and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's loyalist and Fatehgarh Sahib legislator Kuljeet Nagra have been made secretaries.
The party has also chosen to appoint Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee as special invitee to the CWC. By doing so, the party has chosen to give due representation to the Dalit community in the AICC.
Party observers said besides rehabilitating Amarinder, which was necessary keeping in view that the former CM still wielded considerable influence in the state Congress, the reshuffle has Rahul Gandhi's stamp all over it. According to a formula that has been much discussed, the party has gone in for a Dalit, Jat Sikh and Hindu combination while choosing Kaypee, Nagra and Sekhri. The three also represent a generational shift in Punjab politics, which, sources said, has been supervised by Rahul Gandhi.
After the reshuffle, Amarinder Singh expressed his gratitude to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for inducting him into the CWC.
Chandigarh, June 16
The Congress high command today rehabilitated former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh by making him a permanent invitee to the top decision-making body of the party — the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The CWC reshuffle also saw Ambika Soni, senior leader and Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, becoming a major power centre. She has been appointed as the general secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will also be the general secretary in charge of the Congress president's office.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC), however, has delivered a snub to former MP and senior leader Jagmeet Brar, who no longer remains a CWC member. Besides being a special invitee to the CWC, Brar was also in charge of a few states. The Congress has also put its faith in youth leaders, two of whom have been appointed as secretaries in the new-look AICC.
Sources said though the party had rehabilitated Amarinder Singh, who was in a limbo for a brief span after the elevation of Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa as Punjab unit chief in March, it stopped short of giving him a more effective role despite speculation that he would be adjusted as a general secretary.
The AICC reshuffle is bad news for Jagmeet Brar, who earlier lost the race for the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) chief’s post to Bajwa. The senior leader had become active in the state recently. Party sources are reading Brar's ouster as a signal that the party wants to strengthen the new PCC president at this crucial juncture.
The Congress high command has also chosen to ignore other senior leaders, including former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and has shown faith in the youth. Prominent Hindu leader and three-time legislator Ashwani Sekhri and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's loyalist and Fatehgarh Sahib legislator Kuljeet Nagra have been made secretaries.
The party has also chosen to appoint Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee as special invitee to the CWC. By doing so, the party has chosen to give due representation to the Dalit community in the AICC.
Party observers said besides rehabilitating Amarinder, which was necessary keeping in view that the former CM still wielded considerable influence in the state Congress, the reshuffle has Rahul Gandhi's stamp all over it. According to a formula that has been much discussed, the party has gone in for a Dalit, Jat Sikh and Hindu combination while choosing Kaypee, Nagra and Sekhri. The three also represent a generational shift in Punjab politics, which, sources said, has been supervised by Rahul Gandhi.
After the reshuffle, Amarinder Singh expressed his gratitude to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for inducting him into the CWC.
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