Inauspicious period over; first major Congress reshuffle by Kharge soon

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to carry out his first big organisational exercise this week, almost over 10 months after getting elected as the head of the grand old party.

The organisational reshuffle and the reconstitution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will indicate whether Kharge has been able to establish his writ in the party or if he is just a de jure chief. 

Also read: Did Mallikarjun Kharge snub KC Venugopal in Rahul Gandhi's presence?

He is already facing severe criticism for allowing the Gandhis to hold sway and for his failure to form his own team since taking over as the Congress president in October 2022. 

The new team is now expected to be announced any time after August 16 when the Malmas or Adhikamas month comes to an end. This extra month is added to the Hindu calendar every three years. This is considered inauspicious, and all auspicious works are prohibited during this month.

Also read: Why is Kharge going for piecemeal changes?

Last week, Kharge had a two-and-a-half-hour one-on-one meeting with Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi to give a final shape to the proposed organisational changes. Prior to that, he had also discussed the list with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.  

Kharge had so far effected some piecemeal changes in the party, but uncertainty continued at various levels in the organisation. 

Also read: How Venugopal's continuation is bad news for Kharge?

Many Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs and All-India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charges had put in their papers after the assembly elections in their respective states, but they had been asked to continue till their replacements were appointed.  

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka and West Bengal are some of the states where the Congress is expected to change its PCC chiefs.  

Also read: ​​Why is KC Venugopal a liability for Rahul Gandhi?

In Jammu and Kashmir, strong discontent is brewing up against present PCC chief Vikar Rasool Wani, who is perceived to be arrogant and incompetent. Many senior leaders are up in arms against him over his failure to carry everyone along which in turn is weakening the party at the grassroots level. These leaders are also upset with AICC in-charge Rajni Patil and have repeatedly complained to the party high command about her style of functioning. She is accused of covering up Wani's failures despite a section within the Jammu and Kashmir repeatedly flagging his alleged close ties with the local unit of the BJP.  

Wani has been a known loyalist of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Apart from Patil, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal was instrumental in his appointment as the PCC chief.

Also read: Congress rejig: Is KC Venugopal on his way out?

Among general secretaries, Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka), Avinash Pande (Jharkhand), Jitendra Singh (Assam), Tariq Anwar (Kerala) and Mukul Wasnik are likely to be dropped or shifted.

Similarly, in-charges of Tamil Nadu (Dinesh Gundu Rao), Maharashtra (HK Patil) - both have become ministers in Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal (Dr A Chella Kumar), Uttarakhand (Devender Yadav), Bihar (Bhakta Charan Das), Punjab (Harish Chaudhary), Gujarat (Raghu Sharma) and Himachal Pradesh (Rajeev Shukla) are likely to be replaced.