A day after former state Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh suggested that Congress needs a reshuffle, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi appointed Singh as the new president of the party’s Punjab unit.
Rajya Sabha MP Ambika Soni has been appointed as the chairperson of the Campaign Committee for the 2017 Punjab assembly elections. Amarinder is the tallest Congress leader in the state and Soni, an old party war horse, can provide strategic direction to the campaign.With this, the factionism in the Punjab unit of the Congress party comes to an end.
On Thursday, Singh’s suggestion of a reshuffle had prompted State Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa and legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar to resign from their posts. Sangrur MLA Lal Singh has been appointed as the senior vice-president. MLA Sadhu Singh Dharmsot has been given the post of committee’s vice- chairman, while Ludhiana MP has been appointed as its convenor.
Punjab goes to polls in 2017, and the Congress will attempt the capitalise on the anti-incumbency against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government, which has been ruling the state since 2007. Amarinder’s appointment as state unit chief coming at least a full year ahead of the next polls, will give him enough time to strengthen the party’s various units, and to build the party’s poll campaign.