Massive reshuffle of AICC

A comprehensive reshuffle of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) saw the political accent on the youth and its centrepiece was first-time MP Rahul Gandhi who was appointed general secretary and member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Four Ministers of State "" Jairam Ramesh, Prithviraj Chavan, Ajay Maken and Shakeel Ahmad "" were drafted into the party suggesting a Cabinet reshuffle soon. Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes is already a general secretary.

Minister for Science Kapil Sibal was appointed in the Department of Policy Planning and Co-ordination.

Both the Congress Working Committee and the office-bearers were reshuffled, the clearest indication of an impending election.

The two significant elements of the reshuffle were Gandhi's elevation and the presence of Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh in almost all important committees of the Congress.

Older experienced Congressmen were retained but were divested of some of their burden. Octogenarians like MM Jacob were retired altogether and Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan given the states he was handling "" Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir.

The charge of UP was taken away from former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and given to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.

Kishore Chandra Deo, Congress leader from Orissa, was appointed general secretary in-charge of Bihar. Mukul Wasnik was put in charge of Rajasthan and Margaret Alva given Punjab in addition to Maharashtra that she was already holding.

Mohsina Kidwai was put in charge of Kerala, West Bengal and Lakshadweep. Ajay Maken will be handling Orissa and Jharkhand, two crucial states for the Congress. Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes's burden has been lightened "" he was earlier handling all seven North-Eastern states, which have now been divided between Prithviraj Chavan and Margaret Alva.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is no longer on the CWC. Neither is Buta Singh, who had become governor in between. Jagmeet Brar, Punjab leader and Congress dissident who is against Amarinder Singh, has been retained on the CWC but Amarinder does not find place on any of the committees.

As many as 34 secretaries have been appointed, mostly young or middle-level Congressmen like Priya Dutt, Madhu Goud Yaskhi and Alka Lamba.

However, the most crucial committee appointed by the Congress seems to be the Group To Look Into Future Challenges, so loosely worded that it will be free to make up its job as it goes along.

This has Veerappa Moily, Digvijay Singh and Vayalar Ravi, the three leaders who represent the voice of experience and the link with the Old Congress.

It also has Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid, all leaders who have been ministers and have practical experience of implementing Congress policies. The young MPs on the committee are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sandeep Dikshit, Sachin Pilot and Rahul Gandhi.

Three new state-level appointments were also made. Punjab and Rajasthan got a working president, in addition to the president, a post that is not mentioned in the Congress party constitution.

In Uttar Pradesh, Salman Khurshid was replaced by Rita Bahuguna, the daughter of former chief minister HN Bahuguna. Uttarakhand got a new PCC chief, Yashpal Arya, replacing Harish Rawat.