The appointment of Sachin Pilot as the brand new AICC Common Secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs signifies a strategic shift by the occasion excessive command aimed toward appeasing dissenting Punjab Congress leaders who had accused outgoing in-charge Bhupesh Baghel of siding with incumbent PPCC chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. The transfer additionally indicators a serious shake-up in PPCC, together with the possible substitute of Warring and different adjustments within the state unit.
Associated information: Sachin Pilot replaces Baghel as Punjab Congress in-charge; Surjewala gets Gujarat in key party reshuffle
A senior AICC chief stated Pilot’s appointment as Punjab in-charge may work to the occasion’s benefit by serving to unite its leaders forward of Rahul Gandhi’s proposed go to to the state. Leaders, together with former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, each of whom had opposed Warring, have already welcomed the transfer.
One of many Congress’s outstanding younger OBC leaders, Pilot hails from neighbouring Rajasthan and has an understanding of Punjab’s political points. He has additionally visited the state on a number of events for numerous occasions. His enchantment among the many Gujjar and different OBC communities in Punjab was one other issue thought-about by the excessive command. Because the son of veteran Congress chief Rajesh Pilot, he additionally carries the benefit of his father’s political legacy.
Pilot’s appointment may show useful for the Congress within the upcoming Meeting election, because the Punjab constituencies of Mansa, Sardulgarh, Budhlada, Fazilka and Abohar border Rajasthan and have a big inhabitants of Bagri-speaking individuals. Residents of those areas share shut kinship and familial ties with individuals in Rajasthan, together with robust emotional and cultural connections.
Celebration sources stated the elimination of Bhupesh Baghel, the previous Chhattisgarh chief minister and Punjab in-charge, means that the excessive command has taken notice of the stiff resistance confronted by Baghel and Warring in the course of the sequence of ‘Har Sales space Congress Mazboot’ occasions. Posters carrying the slogan “Return Baghel” had surfaced at a number of locations final month.
Leaders of the anti-Warring camp had accused Baghel of undermining the Punjab Congress’s prospects of returning to energy within the state.
A senior chief stated the occasion excessive command may take into account a mixture of OBC and Dalit leaders to counter BJP, which has been aggressively focusing on the OBC vote-bank by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini whereas additionally looking for to consolidate its assist amongst Dalit voters.
