Cong initiates rejig, appoints new chiefs for Punjab, U'khand

As part of its restructuring, the Congress today initiated changes in some state units appointing new presidents for Uttarakhand and Punjab, and a general secretary incharge for Rajasthan.

While former minister Sunil Jakhar was appointed the new PCC chief for Punjab, replacing Amarinder Singh, who became the chief minister, Pritam Singh was made the new Uttarakhand Congress president replacing Kishore Upadhyay.

AICC Secretary Avinash Pande, a former Rajya Sabha member and a former legislator from Maharashtra, was appointed the new general secretary incharge for Rajasthan, which goes to polls next year.

He will be assisted in the state by a new team of four AICC secretaries that include Vivek Bansal, Qazi Mohammed Nizamuddin, Devendra Yadav and Tarun Kumar.

With this rejig, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi have initiated restructuring in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Goa.

They have appointed 17 new office-bearers, 10 of whom are less than 50 years of age, and seven are from other backward classes, Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, adding they also represent SCs and other classes.