Congress reshuffles general secretary positions, appointing Randeep Surjewala for Madhya Pradesh and Mukul Wasnik for Gujarat

New Delhi: The Congress made a significant organizational reshuffle, appointing Randeep Surjewala as the general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, and Mukul Wasnik as the general secretary in-charge of Gujarat. Ajay Rai was appointed President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress in lieu of Dalit Brijlal Khabri. Surjewala replaced senior politician JP Aggarwal as general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, while Wasnik replaced Rajasthan Congress leader Raghu Sharma as general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan. In the most recent Gujarat state elections, the Congress suffered a crushing defeat. Raghu Sharma then resigned from his position as in-charge.

Madhya Pradesh will hold assembly elections later this year. In such a case, it is deemed critical to delegate authority to Surjewala. Apart from that, the Lok Sabha elections will be held next year. In Gujarat, there is a direct conflict between the BJP and the Congress. Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats. The selection of Ajay Rai is also critical in this situation. Rai campaigned against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Uttar Pradesh seat of Varanasi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was defeated in both elections.

After Bihar and Jharkhand, Congress has given the responsibility of state president to Ajay Rai, who comes from Bhumihar caste in UP. The President of Bihar Congress is Akhilesh Prasad Singh and the President of Jharkhand Congress is Mithilesh Thakur. Most of the population of Bhumihar caste lives in these three states. Bhumihar caste is considered as vote bank of BJP. In such a situation, the Congress is trying to make a dent in it.