Congress Appoints Sachin Pilot As Punjab Party Secretary General Ahead Of Polls, Replacing Baghel

The Congress has carried out a reshuffle of its state-level leadership ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, appointing Sachin Pilot as the party’s general secretary in-charge of poll-bound Punjab.

Pilot replaces Bhupesh Baghel, who has now been given charge of Assam as general secretary. The changes come as the party prepares for elections in several key states over the coming months.

Randeep Singh Surjewala has been appointed general secretary in-charge of Gujarat. He will retain his existing responsibility for Karnataka, where the party recently witnessed a smooth transition of power.

Punjab is scheduled to go to the polls early next year, while Gujarat will hold its Assembly elections later in the year.

The appointments were announced by

AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal. In a statement, he said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had reassigned and appointed party functionaries as AICC general secretaries and state in-charges with immediate effect.

As part of the reshuffle, Sukhdeo Bhagat has been appointed the party’s Chhattisgarh in-charge, while Dr Sirivella Prasad will oversee Maharashtra. P V Mohan has been given charge of Andhra Pradesh.

Venugopal also acknowledged the work of the outgoing general secretaries and in-charges, saying, “The party appreciates the contributions of the following outgoing General Secretary/In-charges — Jitendra Singh, Ramesh Chennithala and Manickam Tagore.”

Mukul Wasnik will continue in his role as AICC general secretary, according to the party’s statement.