NEW DELHI: In what appears to be an olive branch to the “letter writers” and further impetus to in-house reconciliation, Congress has reached out to the G23 members heading AICC departments with a subtle message that they stay on.
Party sources said the AICC management contacted these leaders and sought to know if they were interested in continuing with their organisational responsibility. The subtext was that they should.
It is learnt that senior Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor will stay on as chairman of the ‘AICC Professional Congress’ department. AICC ‘legal and human rights department’ chairman Vivek Tankha has stepped down. Anand Sharma is likely to continue as chairman of the foreign affairs department. Sources said it was not clear if Sharma was approached since he is also a Congress Working Committee member. The outreach is seen as an attempt to know the minds of the G23 members and to reassure them.
The move suggests that there is an organisational rejig on the cards. Congress has to fill a few vacant AICC departments, like the ones for SCs, STs and OBCs. West Bengal and Gujarat need new managers after the exit of Jitin Prasada and the death of Rajiv Satav.
