Rajni Patil is Cong in-charge of Himachal

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Former Rajya Sabha member Rajni Patil was appointed the new Congress in-charge for Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, resting veteran party leader Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi approved the appointment this morning, relieving one Maharashtra leader to bring in another.

Patil, 58, was originally a BJP leader and was Lok Sabha MP from Beed, representing the BJP. She later joined the Congress and entered the Rajya Sabha during a byelection held in 2013 to fill the space vacated by senior Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh. Patil came as a surprise choice to many in the Congress circles as Rahul has, of late, been appointing state in-charges from the adjoining areas to facilitate their travel and tour plans.

Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh are far apart.But party sources said Patil had worked in Himachal earlier as a returning officer during the Congress organisational elections and had an idea of the state. Himachal is also expected to see an organisational overhauling with likely replacement of state chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Rahul is in the process of reorganising the entire party and Himachal change today is part of that effort.