Rahul effect: Cong replaces Gujarat unit chief, more to follow

NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki was named the new Gujarat Congress chief on Sunday, starting the reconstitution of state units pending in the party.
AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat said Solanki will replace Arjun Modwadia. Solanki, 62, is the son of former Gujarat chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki. He was state Congress chief earlier from 2006-2008.
Modwadia had resigned soon after the party’s poor performance in the 2012 assembly elections but was asked to continue till the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
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The changes in the state units may soon be followed by replacements in AICC which is set to have Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s imprint.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan may be named the head of the state unit, replacing Manikrao Thakre who resigned after a poor show in Lok Sabha elections. The head of the Mumbai unit is also to be announced, for which a younger leader is being considered. Sources said the party may pick a leader with north Indian roots or from among two young former MPs who are also in contention.
Sources said PCC chiefs of Telangana and Delhi are also likely to be announced, may be on Monday itself. Ajay Maken will be the head of Delhi unit, a state where the party has been reduced to a distant third without any seats in the recent assembly elections.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The party also has to decide on PCC chief of Punjab following dissidence against incumbent Partap Singh Bajwa. Lal Singh, considered to be close to former CM Amarinder Singh, is likely to replace Bajwa. In February, many party MLAs had met Rahul Gandhi and told him that Bajwa was not able to keep the flock together.
Lal Singh was elected as MLA from Dakala for five terms, the first being in 1977. In 1985 and 1997 elections, he lost to SAD candidates Prem Singh Chandumajra and Harmail Singh respectively but was elected from Sanaur in the 2012 elections. He was made a working PPCC president in 2009.
Jammu & Kashmir unit chief Saifuddin Soz may be replaced with Ghulam Mir. The party is also to reconstitute the Karnataka PCC by replacing state unit chief G Parameshwara.