Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel Appointed as Senior Observers for Poll-Bound States

Gehlot and Baghel have been appointed as senior observers in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively.

Ashok Gehlot (L) and Bhupesh Baghel (R)

(Photo: The Quint)

The Congress on Tuesday, 12 July, roped in Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as senior observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively.

T S Singh Deo, Health Minister of Chhattisgarh, and former Union Minister, Milind Deora would assist the Rajasthan CM as observers in Gujarat.

Baghel, on the other hand, would be assisted by senior Rajasthan leader Sachin Pilot and Partap Singh Bajwa, opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly.

Congress is looking to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the poll-bound states this year.

Appointments Ahead of Elections

The party had earlier made new appointments in the Gujarat Pradesh Working Committee, which included prominent Dalit activist and legislator Jignesh Mevani.

MLAs Lalit Kagathara, Rutvik Makwana, Ambarish J Der, Himmatsingh Patel, Kadir Pirzada, and Indravijaysinh Gohil were named working presidents along with Mevani.

The party also made new appointments in Karnataka, where assembly elections are to be held next year.

Congress didn't fare well in the previous round of Assembly elections, losing in all the states. The party lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur to BJP.