Ambika reminds Congress leadership to lighten her duties

As Himachal Pradesh elections draw nearer, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni has sent a reminder to the party leadership to relieve her of the charge citing ill-health.
 
Soni, 74, has informed Congress President Sonia Gandhi of her inability to discharge duties as AICC General Secretary in-charge of three hill states – Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to her advanced age.
 
“I had asked the party leadership to lighten my duties in the party due to my health,” Soni, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters here.
 
Former Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is tipped to succeed Soni as AICC General Secretary in-charge of Himachal Pradesh that goes to polls in November.
 
Congress is also expected to name a new AICC in-charge for Uttarakhand, where it lost the assembly elections earlier this year.
 
The Congress has set in motion the process to revamp the organisation by effecting changes in poll-bound states.
 
As part of the exercise, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was made AICC General Secretary in-charge of Gujarat, Avinash Pande was elevated as AICC General Secretary and given the charge of Rajasthan.
 
Former Union Minister K C Venugopal was elevated at AICC General Secretary and handed over the charge of poll-bound Karnataka.
 
Similarly, senior leaders R P N Singh and P L Punia were made AICC in-charge of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh respectively.