KC Venugopal said Mr. Rawat is being "relieved" from his current responsibility but shall continue to be a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The Congress on Friday appointed Rajasthan Revenue Minister Harish Chaudhary as the new head of All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Punjab and Chandigarh replacing former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat from the post. The development comes in view of the state Assembly polls that are due next year.
The announcement was made by the AICC general secretary KC Venugopal who stated that the Congress President has appointed Mr. Chaudhary as the "AICC in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh with immediate effect."
Mr. Venugopal further said that Mr. Rawat is being "relieved" from his current responsibility but shall continue to be a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). He further added that the party appreciates his contributions as general secretary.
The development of Harish Chaudhary replacing Harish Rawat has ended the speculation that was doing rounds for quite some time amid the party's political crisis in Punjab. Apparently, there are rumours of Congress leader Amarinder Singh joining the central ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which might take Punjab politics to another level.
Mr Chaudhary was the observer in-charge of Punjab during the recent change of leadership where Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Punjab and was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi. Reportedly, Mr Rawat had been requesting the top leadership of the party to relieve him from the duty of Punjab Congress in-charge as he wanted to concentrate on the upcoming Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held next year in Uttarakhand.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.