With an eye on the Punjab elections early next year, Congress has appointed Rajasthan's revenue minister Harish Chaudhary as head of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Punjab and Chandigarh with immediate effect. Mr Chaudhary replaces former Uttarakhand chief minister and five-time member of parliament Harish Singh Rawat.
Mr Chaudhary was the observer in charge of Punjab during the recent change of leadership where Captain Amarinder Singh was replaced by Charanjit Channi as chief minister. He has served as the national secretary of the AICC and is currently a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from the Baytu constituency in the Barmer district of the state. He was also elected Member of Parliament in 2009 from the Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency in Rajasthan but lost in the 2014 general elections.
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said that Mr Rawat is "being relieved" of his current responsibilities as AICC General Secretary In-Charge for Punjab and Chandigarh but will continue as a member of the Congress Working Committee.
Mr Rawat had been requesting the party leadership to relieve him from Punjab Congress in-charge duty as he wanted to focus on plans for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand.
