New Delhi: With assembly elections in several states scheduled early next year, the Congress is mulling to rejig the state unit chiefs to bring the party onto the winning spree.
According to sources, the Congress is mulling to change the state unit chiefs of Assam and Tamil Nadu, where assembly elections are scheduled next year. Even the party is mulling to change the state unit chief in the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress has announced the new state unit chiefs to the stares of Bihar and Kerala, where the assembly elections are due later this year and next year.
The source said, in Assam, the Congress is mulling to give the charge of the state to senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi.
The party source said that with the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeting Gogoi and making several personal accusations against him is making the latter popular in the state.
The source said that Gogoi, who is also the Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, party leaders feel that the son of former three time Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi can directly take on Sarma in the state.
For the past two months, a visible war of words has unfolded between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma and Gogoi. Sarma has made a series of serious allegations — ranging from Gogoi’s alleged trip to Pakistan to purported connections of his wife with foreign nationals — all without conclusive evidence in the public domain.
While the BJP sees this as a matter of national interest, Congress insiders believe something else is at play.
Party sources say that Gogoi is emerging as a natural face of the Congress in Assam, and there is growing anticipation around an upcoming organisational revamp. With his clean image, calm communication style, and strong parliamentary record, many within the Congress believe Gogoi could be positioned in a more prominent decision-making role in the state — possibly as PCC president or Campaign Committee chairman.
This, they say, explains the attention he is drawing.
“Gogoi is not holding any official role in the state unit right now, yet he is constantly being mentioned. That itself shows his political relevance,” a senior Congress functionary noted.
The party believes that if political discourse in Assam takes a more personality-based turn — where Gogoi becomes the principal face countering the BJP — it could work in their favour. They see it as a contrast of leadership styles and narratives: one focused on developmental discourse and the other dominated by aggressive rhetoric.
As the Congress prepares to reorganise its state unit, all eyes will be on whether Gogoi is handed a larger role — potentially setting up a new political dynamic in Assam.
Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, where elections are due next year, the party is also mulling to change the state unit chief.
Currently, K. Selvaperunthagai is heading the state unit after being appointed in February 2024. However, party insiders feel that Jothimani can be the new face of the party in the southern state.
Jothimani is currently Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu’s Karur.
However, the party source said that the more complex is the case of Haryana, where the party lost assembly elections late last year.
Uday bhan is currently the president of Haryana unit, and the party is mulling to decide on the new state unit chief.
The source said that the it is a complex case where the new party chief has to be decided where the party has also not named CLP in the state assembly polls in last eight months.
The party has changed the state incharge in Haryana, with BK Hariprasad given the task.
Similarly, the party is also eyeing to change the state unit chief of Himachal Pradesh, where Pratibha Singh, wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is leading the party unit.
It was under Pratibha Singh that the party won the 2022 assembly polls and came back to power in the hill state. However, the party drew a nil in the Lok Sabha polls held last year.
