Key Congress role for Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath in UP, Punjab

The AICC reshuffle process has begun with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday naming senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kamal Nath as general secretaries in charge of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab/Haryana respectively. This comes in the backdrop of the buzz in party circles about rahul Gandhi’s imminent elevation, and sends out the signal that it is a time to mobilise for battle (with UP and Punjab going to the polls next year), and not to experiment.

Mrs Gandhi has thus brought the old team back, realising that checking the BJP in UP directly or through a tactical understanding with opponents like the SP and BSP is vital at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP fcpresident Amit Shah are leading the battle from the front against the SP, BSP and Congress.

Mr Azad had earlier handled party affairs in UP twice, and Mr Nath was general secretary in charge of Gujarat and West Bengal. The two are known for results and for being able to raise resources. Mr Nath is the seniormost member (nine terms) in the current Lok Sabha, winning since 1980 (except in the 1996 bypoll from Chhindwara in MP).