Leadership change begins in Congress state units; Ajay Maken, Bharatsinh Solanki made PCC chiefs

NEW DELHI:In the run up to the AICC session and elevation of Rahul Gandhi as party president, the Congress high command is set to remove around half a dozen PCC presidents. It will also signal the accommodation of various pressure groups. Party sources said the broader contours of these appointments were finalised even before Rahul Gandhi left on his mysterious sabbatical.
Ajay Maken and Bharatsinh Solanki have been already appointed PCC chiefs, replacing Arvinder Lovely and Arjun Modhiwada in Delhi and Gujarat, respectively. Ashok Chavan is likely to remain in active politics as Maharashtra PCC chief. Among PCC chiefs who will be shown the door are Punjab party leader PS Bajwa, whose replacement Capt Amarinder Singh and supporters have been demanding. Others include Saifuddin Soz of J&K. The move also comes when P Chidambaram’s faction has been continuing to demand removal of Tamil Nadu PCC chief Elangovan as well.

The decision to remove Bajwa, a Rahul Gandhihandpicked PCC chief, comes days after the state Congress badly lost the civic polls to the Akali-BJP front and AAP in the wake of Amarinder faction intensifying factional wars.

Though Singh is keen to take over as PCC chief, a compromise formula is being offered by the AICC. Lal Singh, a senior state leader and a loyalist of the Captain from Patiala, could be made the PCC chief, while Amarinder could become the chairman of the campaign committee for the assembly polls that will make him the de facto leader.

The Punjab move indicates Rahul Gandhi’s flexibility to accommodate the old guard’s wish list. Significantly, senior leader Ashok Gehlot, a 10 Janpath loyalist, said after a meeting with Sonia Gandhi in Delhi, “I am confident soon a good team of Rahul Gandhji will be in place. Like it happened during Indiraji’s and Rajivji’s time, the team of Rahulji will also be a mix of youth and experienced leaders”.

AICC General Secretary Ajay Maken’s return to head Delhi PCC was widely expected ever since he was made the campaign committee chairman for the recently held Delhi elections, where the party failed to open its account. It was clear since then that AICC wanted to project Maken as the face of the post Sheila Dikshit era of the state Congress, with a task of rebuilding the state party brick-by-brick.

Bharatsinh Solanki is a former Union minister and son of former chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki. It would be his second shot at the PCC pesidentship which he had held around five years ago. The high command has also decided to remove Saifuddin Soz after having persisted with his listless tenure for many years. The majority of the sate leaders led by Ghulam Nabi Azad have been seeking his removal. There could be shake-ups in Jharkhand and Kartanata PCCs too soon.