Shinde dropped, Kamal Nath included in CWC

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, FEB. 12. In a major organisational reshuffle, the All- India Congress Committee (AICC) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, today dropped three Congress Working Committee (CWC) members while bringing in a new chief spokesperson and constituting a 12- member Central Election Committee, besides changing the AICC office-bearers.

The all-important CWC saw the exit of two general secretaries, Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde and Mrs. Prabha Rau, and the powerful Andhra Pradesh leader, Mr. K. Vijaybhaskara Reddy. The new entrants include Lok Sabha MP Mr. Kamal Nath; former Youth Congress chief, Mr. Mukul Wasnik; the relatively unknown Ms. Sarojini Pulla Reddy; the former UPCC chief, Mr. Mahavir Prasad; and the former Union Minister, Mr. L.P. Shahi. The party will now have a new spokesperson in Mr. Jaipal Reddy.

Significantly, the party's Central Election Authority chairman, Mr. Ram Niwas Mirdha, Lok Sabha MP, Mr. Sunil Dutt, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer and former Union Ministers Mr. Chinta Mohan, Mr. Bhajan Lal, Mr. Madhavsinh Solanki and Mr. P.M. Sayeed are the special invitees to the CWC, in addition to all the party Chief Ministers. There are no changes among the permanent invitees, with Mr. A.B. Ghani Khan Chaudhary, Mr. K. Karunakaran and Mr. S.C. Jamir being retained.

Though the Congress president retained a majority of the old guards in the CWC, she also took care to inject fresh blood and bridge the generation gap by inducting youngsters such as Mr. Kamal Nath and Mr. Wasnik. The 23-member CWC now has five women, including Ms Gandhi and six members from the minority communities besides three SCs and STs. Though the number of women falls short of the required 33 per cent, Mrs. Gandhi has left three vacancies leaving the option open for inducting some more later.

Those retained include Mr. Ahmad Patel, Mr. A.K. Antony, Mrs. Ambika Soni, Mr. Arjun Singh, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, Mr. Manmohan Singh, Mrs. Mohsina Kidwai, Ms. Motamma, Mr. Moti Lal Vora, Mr. K. Natwar Singh, Mr. N.D. Tewari, Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. R.K. Dhawan

Today's reshuffle, which comes two months after Ms. Gandhi was elected party president, points to an exhaustive reorganisational exercise. According to Article XIX of the party's constitution, 11 of the 23 CWC members have to be elected by the AICC and the remaining nominated by the president. However, almost a month ago, the AICC authorised Ms. Gandhi to nominate all 23 members.

Though Mrs. Gandhi took a month to undertake the reshuffle, the attempt seems to be on making it as broadbased and representative as possible. She has tried to do a balancing act by accommodating Mr. Reddy, Mrs. Rau and Mr. Shinde in the CEC.

The all-powerful 12-member CEC headed by Ms. Gandhi includes most of the big names. A significant inclusion is that of family loyalist, Mr. M.L. Fotedar. Other members are Mr. A.K. Antony, Mrs. Ambika Soni, Mr. Arjun Singh, the former Haryana PCC chief, Mr. Birendra Singh, Mr. Mahavir Prasad, Mrs. Margaret Alva, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Naresh Yadav.

The office-bearers list has also undergone a change with the induction of two new general secretaries and six secretaries. Mrs. Ambika Soni will head the media department in addition to looking after Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and the Congress president's office. Tamil Nadu will continue to be looked after by Mr. Azad, in addition to Kerala, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakhswadeep, Pondicherry, UP and Uttaranchal.

Mr. Kamal Nath will look after Delhi and West Bengal in addition to Assam, while Mr. Mahavir Prasad will look after Jharkhand and Bihar. Mr. Wasnik and Mr. Sunil Dutt have been given independent charge of Mahila Congress and Youth Congress respectively, while Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer has been put in charge of the North East.

The AICC secretaries include Mr. Subodh Kant Sahay, the former APCC chief, Mr. Hanumantha Rao, the Bihar PCC chief, Mr. Chandan Bagchi, Mr. B. Kalita and Ms. Sudha Joshi. The former Minister, Ms. Selja, has been retained.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Natwar Singh and Mrs. Ambika Soni will continue as head of the department of economic affairs, foreign affairs and the media department respectively. While the Minorities, OBCs, SC/ST and the Vichar Vibagh departments will be headed by Mr. A.R. Antulay, Mr. P. Shiv Shankar, and Mr. G. Venkatswamy and Mr. Ashwani Kumar respectively. Mr. Jairam Ramesh has been retained as the economic affairs secretary while Mr. Avtar Singh Bhadana is the new secretary of the OBC department.

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