Rahul Gandhi appoints Shaktisinh Gohil as Congress in-charge of Bihar

Former Uttar Pradesh legislator Anugrah Narayan Singh, 66, has been given the charge of Uttarakhand.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday divested party general secretaries Ambika Soni and CP Joshi of their charge of Bihar and Uttarakhand respectively.

Shaktisinh Gohil was appointed as the AICC in-charge of party affairs in Bihar. (HT File Photo)

While senior leader from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil, 57, will look after the party’s affairs in Bihar, former Uttar Pradesh legislator Anugrah Narayan Singh, 66, has been given the charge of Uttarakhand.

Joshi, 67, considered close to Gandhi, still holds charge of nine states — Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur apart from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He had faced flak for the Congress party’s repeated electoral drubbings in the northeast.

Soni, 74, will continue to be the party general secretary in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir. She had requested Congress high command last year to relieve her of the charge of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand due to health reasons.

During her tenure as in-charge of Uttarakhand, Ambika Soni had taken the help of colleague Kumari Selja in running the party affairs during the assembly elections in February-March last year.

On Saturday, Gandhi had appointed young leaders Chandan Yadav and Yashomati Thakur as party secretaries.