New Delhi [India], January 9 : The Congress President has appointed senior party leaders as AICC Senior Observers for the forthcoming Assembly Elections in several States, with immediate effect, according to a statement from the party.
Bhupesh Baghel, D.K. Shivakumar and Bandhu Tirkey have been appointed for Assam. Sachin Pilot, KJ George, Imran Pratapgarhi and Kanhaiya Kumar have been named for Kerala.
Additionally, Mukul Wasnik, Uttam Kumar Reddy and Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin have been appointed for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Sudip Roy Barman, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Prakash Joshi have been appointed for West Bengal.
West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry are headed to polls in this year. While some face the challenge of retaining power, others aim to make history.
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are states where the BJP has not yet won assembly elections.
The move by Congress came after its dismal performance in the Bihar elections, where the party contested nearly 61 seats but secured only six, marking a significant electoral setback.
In Bihar, the NDA's 'tsunami' swept away the opposition Mahagathbandhan, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 89 seats, and the Janata Dal (United) finishing a close second with 85. The other allies of the ruling coalition also registered high strike rates.
On December 27, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the CWC meeting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters. Senior party leaders, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, were present.
Those who attended the meeting included Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, senior leader Harish Rawat, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, MPs Rajeev Shukla and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.
The meeting focused on MNREGA-related issues and upcoming election strategies.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously condemned what he described as the Union government's "anti-federal and anti-national" move to weaken the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
In a post on X, Siddaramaiah wrote, "At today's Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at Indira Bhawan, New Delhi, we unanimously condemned the Union Government's anti-federal and anti-national move to weaken the very spirit of the Employment Guarantee Programme by changing the name and structure of MGNREGA."
He also mentioned that the meeting focused on upcoming poll preparations, developing strategies to prevent vote theft, and addressing the country's significant challenges.
"The meeting will also focus on preparations for upcoming Assembly elections, strategies to stop vote theft, and addressing the major challenges facing the country," he said.