Congress revamps Madhya Pradesh AICC unit, appoints Deepak Babaria as general secretary

New Delhi: Initiating further changes in the party's organisation, the Congress on Saturday appointed Deepak Babaria as the AICC general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh unit, replacing Mohan Prakash.The party leadership also appointed two AICC secretaries in-charge, Zubair Khan and Sanjay Kapoor, to assist him in handling the party affairs in Madhya Pradesh.[caption id="attachment_3961395" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. AFP[/caption]The Congress is yet to appoint a new president of the Madhya Pradesh unit amid a tussle between senior party leader Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia for the post.Madhya Pradesh goes to polls by next year-end as the tenure of the current assembly ends on 7 January, 2019."Congress President Sonia Gandhi has constituted a new team to hold the charge of looking after party affairs in Madhya Pradesh and has appointed Deepak Babaria as AICC general secretary in-charge," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement."Mohan Prakash and Rakesh Kalia have been relieved of their responsibility as general secretary and secretary in-charge, Madhya Pradesh, respectively. The party appreciates their work and contribution," the statement said.Babaria, AICC secretary till now and a close confidant of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, will be assisted by Khan and Kapoor, who are already AICC secretaries.While Khan hails from Rajasthan and was till now taking care of Uttar Pradesh, Kapoor hails from Uttar Pradesh and was taking care of Uttarakhand affairs of the party. He has been a former MLA, but lost this election from Bilaspur.These appointments, though cleared by Sonia Gandhi, bear the stamp of Rahul, who is elevating his close aides to senior party positions.The party is sniffing good electoral gains in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been out of power for the last 14 years.The Congress leadership has earlier installed new teams in charge of poll-bound Gujarat, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, besides appointing some young faces as in-charges of party affairs in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.Meanwhile, Rahul has also appointed Vilas Keshavrao Autade as Chief Organiser of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Seva Dal in place of Shashikat Thorat.Chandrakant Dayma, who has been working as Chairman of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Seva Dal, has been relieved of his responsibility, Dwivedi said in a separate statement.