Digvijay Singh appointed Congress co-ordinator for Maharashtra polls

With the assembly elections battle getting fierce in Maharashtra, Congress today appointed AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh for co-ordinating party matters for the polls as also those with alliance partner NCP in the state.

Singh's appointment has come at a time when the campaign in the state is about to begin after close of withdrawal of nominations on September 29.

Singh has experience to deal with party's Maharashtra affairs as he was also sent as part of an AICC team to assess the situation in the state last month. He had also co-ordinated the campaign in the last assembly elections in 2004 when Margaret Alva was the AICC general secretary in-charge of the state.

Party sources said the appointment means that Singh would be the key AICC leader on the spot in the poll-bound state as defence minister AK Antony, who is in-charge of party ffairs in Maharashtra, has his hands full with other engagements.