Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday appointed Harish Chaudhary as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Punjab, replacing Harish Rawat, who had earlier asked to be relieved of his duties from the State.
Mr Chaudhary, an MLA in the Rajasthan Assembly, was an AICC secretary for Punjab but has been elevated as the AICC in-charge for the State.
“Congress president has appointed Harish Chaudhary as AICC in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh with immediate effect. Harish Rawat is being relieved from his current responsibility as AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh,” general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a statement, adding that Mr Rawat would continue to be a member of the CWC.
Mr. Rawat too tweeted to thank his colleagues from Punjab for the support he got during his stint as AICC in-charge and stated that he would now focus on his home State of Uttarakhand, where elections are scheduled next year along with Punjab.
But the change of guard also comes when the crisis in Punjab Congress seems to be deepening, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu sharing a frosty relationship.
On Wednesday, asking the leadership to relieve him of his Punjab duties, Mr. Rawat had tweeted, “Today I have been able to overcome a big dillemma. One the one hand, I have a duty towards my janmabhoomi [birthplace] and the other hand, I have to offer my services to my karmabhoomi [land where one works]. Things are getting complicated as elections are drawing closer and a person has to give full time to both the places. So that I can devote myself to Uttarakhand completely, I should be relieved of my present duties”.
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