New Delhi: With a minor reshuffle of the Union Cabinet last month, decks have been cleared for the long-standing shake-up of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) ahead of the assembly elections in four states, including Congress-ruled Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur.
An indication to the imminent reshuffle of the AICC was given by Congress President Sonia Gandhi while talking to reporters soon after the swearing-in of new Ministers in the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The proposed AICC reshuffle is likely to take place very soon, according to highly placed sources.
The reshuffle is necessitated to fill the vacancies caused by AICC office-bearers having joined the Union Cabinet in last month's reshuffle and to prepare the AICC team to suit the requirements of the party in the assembly elections.
Those who have shifted from the party organisation to the Union Cabinet include A K Antony, CWC member in charge of Karnataka and Chairman of the Congress Disciplinary Committee, who took over as Defence Minister replacing Pranab Mukherjee and Oscar Fernandes, in charge of Congress frontal organisations who also looks after the Congress President's Office, as the new Minister of State for Labour.
Another vacancy to be filled in the AICC is the one caused by Ambika Soni, who continues to be in charge of states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir as a CWC member despite having become Minister for Tourism about a year ago.
In the last recast of the AICC, Janardan Dwivedi, General Secretary in charge of Punjab and Haryana, had taken over as Chairperson of the Congress Media Cell, a post held by Ambika Soni until she was shifted to the government. However, Dwivedi continues to be in charge of the two states.
Similarly, AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, who was made Congress Spokesman in the last reshuffle, refused to assume the new responsibility and continues to be in charge of Chhattisgarh.
Speculations have been rife, of late, about Sonia Gandhi's son and Congress MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi likely to become AICC General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, another state to witness the Assembly elections early next year, in the reshuffle.
However, Rahul's reported unwillingness to take over any responsibility in the party organisation or in the government has scotched rumours.
Sonia's oft-repeated reply about Rahul, that it is he who has to decide about being an AICC office-bearer, has also strengthened the impression that Rahul is yet to make up his mind on the matter.
While names of many Congress leaders are doing the rounds for induction in the AICC as General Secretary, the most likely names include Mohsina Kidwai, Rajya Sabha member representing Chhattisgarh, Noor Bano, CWC member in charge of Jharkhand, former Bihar governor Boota Singh and Ashok Ram, CLP leader in Bihar.
Also expected to find a place in the new AICC team are those from the states, which have not been represented in the AICC so far, according to party sources.
Muslim votes being decisive in the coming Uttar Pradesh election, Kidwai is tipped to become General Secretary in charge of the state, the sources said.
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