Congress appoints Harish Chaudhary as Punjab, Chandigarh in-charge

The Congress party has relieved former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Harish Rawat from the post of General Secretary in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh. In his place, Harish Chaudhary has been appointed as the AICC in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh with immediate effect.

Chaudhary is a Cabinet Minister in the Rajasthan Gehlot Government. He was the observer in charge of Punjab during the recent change of leadership where Captain Amarinder Singh was replaced by Charanjit Channi as chief minister.

"Congress President has appointed Shri Harish Chaudhary as AICC In-Charge of Punjab and Chandigarh with immediate effect. Harish Rawat is being relieved from his current responsibility as AICC General Secretary In-Charge of Punjab and Chandigarh. He shall continue as a member of CWC. The party appreciates his contributions as General Secretary," said AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal in a statement.

Harish Rawat had been requesting the party leadership to relieve him from Punjab Congress in-charge duty as he wanted to focus on plans for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand.

The assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab early next year.