Lok Sabha polls: Stepping up its preparations for the Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Saturday (January 6) has constituted a ‘central war room’, publicity committee and election committees for several states.
Congress Central War Room
The organisational war room will be headed by Sasikanth Senthil S while Gokul Butail, Naveen Sharma, Varun Santhosh and Capt. Arvind Kumar would be the vice-chairmen in the organisational war room, according to the Congress statement.
Publicity Committee
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has constituted the publicity committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha general elections with the All India Congress Committee treasurer as its convenor.
A publicity committee with AICC treasurer Ajay Maken as its convenor and party general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal among its members has been constituted.
AICC general secretary organisation, AICC general secretary communication, AICC in charge of administration, AICC chairperson of the media and publicity department and AICC chairperson of the social media department, will be its members.
AICC general secretary organisation is Venugopal, general secretary in charge of communications is Ramesh, the AICC administration in charge is Gurdeep Singh Sappal, the media and publicity department head is Pawan Khera and the social media is headed by Supriya Shrinate, the statement said.
Election committees for states
The Congress constituted election committees for several states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and some eastern states. Additionally, a political affairs committee for Madhya Pradesh was formed.
“The Congress President has approved the proposal of the constitution of Pradesh Election Committees of Rajasthan, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura, and Pradesh Election Committee and Political Affairs Committee of Madhya Pradesh, with immediate effect,” an official communication from the party said.
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, Govind Singh Dotasra, the PCC chief, has been appointed as the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee. The committee includes members such as former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, former Union ministers Sachin Pilot, and Jitendra Singh.
Other members of the committee are Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Mohan Prakash, C P Joshi, Harish Choudhary, Ramlal Jat, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Mamta Bhupesh, Bhajan Lal Jatav, Murari Lal Meena, Ashok Chandna, Neeraj Dangi, Zubair Khan, Dheeraj Gurjar, Rajkumar Sharma, Rohit Bohra, Indra Meena, Dungar Ram Gedar, Shimla Devi Nayak, and Lalit Yadav.
Additionally, the committee includes the President of the Youth Congress, the NSUI president, the chief organiser of Seva Dal, and the president of Pradesh Mahila Congress.
Kerala
In Kerala, K Sudhakar has been appointed as the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee. The committee in Kerala includes prominent leaders such as A K Antony, K C Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala, Vayalar Ravi, V D Satheeshan, K Suresh, Shashi Tharoor, Mullapalli Ramachandran, and others.
Telangana
In Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been appointed as the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee. The committee in Telangana includes deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and V Hanumantha Rao as its members.
Himachal Pradesh
In Himachal Pradesh, PCC chief Pratibha Singh has been appointed as the chairperson of the Pradesh Election Committee. The committee in Himachal Pradesh includes Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri, and senior leaders like Anand Sharma, Viplove Thakur, Asha Kumari, Ram Lal Thakur, Thakur Kaul Singh, Dhaniram Shandil, and Chander Kumar as members, among others.
Madhya Pradesh
Jitu Patwari has been appointed as the head of the Pradesh Election Committee for Madhya Pradesh, with members including Digvijaya Singh, Vivek Tankha, Suresh Pachauri, Kantilal Bhuria, and former chief minister Kamal Nath.
Additionally, the party has established a Political Affairs Committee for Madhya Pradesh, which will be chaired by Jitendra Singh, the AICC in-charge for the state. Patwari will serve as the convener of the panel, which includes Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Arun Yadav, Vivek Tankha, and Nakul Nath.
Chhattisgarh
PCC chief Deepak Baij has been appointed as the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee for Chhattisgarh. The committee will include former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, former deputy chief minister T S Singh Deo, Charan Das Mahant, and Tamradhwaj Sahu as its members.
Manipur
In Manipur, K Meghachandra Singh was appointed the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee with former chief minister Ibobi Singh and former deputy chief minister Gaikhangam as its members, among others.
Nagaland
S Supongmeren Jamir was appointed the chairman of the Nagaland Pradesh Election Committee, while Asish Kumar Saha the chairman of the Tripura Pradesh Election Committee.
The appointments come a day after the Congress constituted five screening committees for shortlisting candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, due in April-May. The party has divided all states and Union territories into five clusters for this purpose.
(With PTI inputs)