Is AICC rejig delayed due to Priyanka Gandhi?

New Delhi: The much-awaited reshuffle in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) seems to have been delayed due to a pending decision on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's future role in the organisation.

Neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi wants Priyanka Gandhi to be an AICC office bearer (at present she is a general secretary and holds the charge of Uttar Pradesh).

They want her to work and campaign for the organisation as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the so-called highest decision-making body of the party.

In fact, Rahul Gandhi has consistently maintained that no member of the Gandhi family should hold any post in the Congress party. He had himself rejected multiple requests from party colleagues to assume the reins of the organisation after he resigned as the Congress president in April 2019 following the party's second successive drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections.

While he took over as the Congress president in December 2018, his mother Sonia Gandhi served as the party chief for a record over 19 consecutive years from 1998 to 2018 and faced the worst-ever electoral defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when the Congress managed to win just 44 seats. At that time, a section of the Congress wanted Priyanka Gandhi to take over but her brother resisted all such attempts.

However, many leaders are still keen to see Priyanka Gandhi proactive and take an even bigger responsibility in the party than just being a general secretary.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wants her to take charge of his state. Baghel shares an excellent rapport with Priyanka Gandhi and that way he will ensure another term for himself in case the Congress retains power.

It was earlier said that Priyanka Gandhi is likely to be shifted from Uttar Pradesh to some other state. But with changing dynamics within the Gandhi family, it remains to be seen what role is finally given to her even as all other formalities regarding the AICC reshuffle have been completed.