Congress sets poll wheels rolling

NEW DELHI: Whatever may be the fate of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, the Congress party has clearly got in to the election mode. On Monday party chief Sonia Gandhi set the wheels in motion by constituting a 21-member manifesto committee and a 24-member campaign committee.

Sonia Gandhi also began the process of revamping her organisation by changing the PCC chiefs of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. In Gujarat she replaced current PCC chief and Lok Sabha MP Bharat Solanki with Siddharth Patel, a sitting MLA. Tusharbhai Chaudhray and Kunwarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavalia as working presidents will assist him.

In Himachal she replaced Viplabh Thakur with Thakur Kaul Singh, while in Tamil Nadu former minister and MP from Salem KV Thangabalu MP has been put in charge of the PCC in place of M Krsihnaswamy. The Congress president is reportedly planning on making several other changes in the AICC as a part of her effort to reinvigorate the party machinery.

The composition of the two high-powered committees has few surprises.  Apart from experienced hands and veterans like Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, P. chidambaram, Digvijay Singh, former Maharashtra governor SM Krishna, the manifesto committee has generation next leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia as its members.
j_ansari@dnaindia.net