Bhopal: Gujarat Congress leader Deepak Babaria, said to be a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi, has been appointed All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh.
He has replaced Mohan Prakash in the post.
His appointment to the post was declared by the AICC on Saturday.
Party sources said Mr Babaria also enjoyed confidence of Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Senior Congress leaders Zuber Khan and Sanjay Kapoor have been made AICC secretaries in-charge of MP to assist Mr Babaria in his job.
“Mr Prakash’s exit was on the cards since three factional leaders of MP Congress — Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia — had earlier expressed their dissatisfaction over his style of function before the party high command.
Mr Babaria may be able to end factionalism in Congress in MP because of his proximity to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, party sources said. Besides, he would command confidence of factional leaders in the party in the state because of his non-controversial image.
The newly-appointed AICC general secretary in-charge of MP has reportedly been inducted as member of core team of Rahul Gandhi in 2012.
He has served in the students as well as youth wings of the party earlier.
Sources said that the Saturday’s development was a precursor to reva-mping of MP Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in coming days to prepare the party for the 2018 Assembly polls.
