The Congress has carried out a major organisational reshuffle ahead of key Assembly elections, appointing Sukhdeo Bhagat as the party's new general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh. The move comes with significant changes in Punjab, where Sachin Pilot has replaced Bhupesh Baghel as the AICC general secretary in charge, while Baghel has been shifted to Assam.

The changes were announced by AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal on Saturday and took effect immediately. The reshuffle comes at a politically important time for the Congress, particularly in Punjab, where the party has been dealing with internal differences ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. 

Sukhdeo Bhagat takes charge in Chhattisgarh

Bhagat's appointment brings a new central leadership face to the Congress organisation in Chhattisgarh. He replaces Sachin Pilot, who had been handling the state before being moved to Punjab.

Bhagat is a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Lohardaga, Jharkhand. His political career includes a stint as Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president and several terms in the state Assembly. He had also briefly joined the BJP before returning to the Congress.

His appointment comes as the Chhattisgarh Congress seeks to strengthen its organisation and improve coordination between its state leadership, senior leaders and grassroots workers.

The immediate focus for Bhagat is likely to include assessing the organisation at the district and booth levels and coordinating the party's political preparations in the state.

Pilot gets Punjab responsibility

Sachin Pilot has now been given charge of Punjab, replacing Bhupesh Baghel.

The decision assumes significance because Punjab Congress has been facing internal differences over the party's organisational leadership. The dispute intensified after the Congress retained Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, while former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was given the role of campaign committee chairman.

According to recent reports, leaders associated with the Channi camp had questioned the continuation of the existing leadership arrangement and pressed the high command for changes. Rival slogans and disruptions at party programmes had also exposed the divisions within the state unit. 

Bhupesh Baghel shifted to Assam

Baghel, who had been responsible for Punjab since February 2025, has now been appointed AICC general secretary in charge of Assam.

The official Congress announcement confirms the reassignment. The party's current list of general secretaries also shows Baghel as the in-charge of Assam. 

The move comes after a period in which Baghel was tasked with bringing together competing factions in Punjab. Reports have linked his replacement to the continuing organisational dispute, although the Congress has not officially described the change as a response to pressure from any particular faction.

Punjab factionalism behind the reshuffle

The leadership change follows weeks of open disagreement within the Punjab Congress.

The dispute became increasingly visible during the party's organisational campaign in July and August, when rival groups reportedly raised slogans and protested against the existing leadership. The issue was also discussed during meetings between the Congress high command and Punjab leaders in Delhi.

India Today reported that leaders from the Channi camp had pressed for changes after Warring was retained as state Congress president. The leadership subsequently brought Pilot into the state ahead of the 2027 Assembly election. 

The Congress now faces the task of rebuilding coordination between the rival camps while preparing for the election.

Pilot faces immediate organisational challenge

Pilot's first major challenge will be to manage the competing political interests within the Punjab unit and establish greater coordination among senior leaders.

The Congress's 2022 Punjab Assembly election defeat remains an important backdrop to the current organisational exercise. With the next election approaching, the party will also have to address candidate selection, campaign coordination and grassroots mobilisation.

The reshuffle therefore represents more than a routine change of state in-charges. For the Congress, Punjab is a politically sensitive state where organisational unity could directly affect its electoral prospects.

What the change means for Chhattisgarh

For Chhattisgarh, the appointment of Bhagat marks a change in the party's central leadership at a time when the state unit is looking to strengthen its organisation.

Bhagat will have to work with the existing state leadership while assessing internal coordination and the party's ground-level preparedness. His experience in Jharkhand politics and within the Congress organisation could become important as the party seeks to consolidate its base.

The reshuffle also signals that the Congress high command is relying on changes in state-level leadership to prepare its organisation for upcoming electoral challenges.

Along with the Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Assam changes, the Congress appointed Randeep Singh Surjewala as Gujarat in-charge, while he will continue handling Karnataka. Dr Sirivella Prasad has been assigned Maharashtra and P V Mohan Andhra Pradesh. 

The immediate test for the new appointments will be whether the reshuffle can translate into stronger organisational coordination and a more unified election strategy on the ground.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi made a one-day visit to Chhattisgarh on Sunday, stopping at Abhanpur near Raipur to address the Congress party's ongoing ten-day residential training camp for newly appointed district and city unit presidents. The visit lasted around four hours before Gandhi left for the airport — but not before pulling over at a roadside tea stall, where he had chai and fed biscuits to PCC chief Deepak Baij.

The camp, being held at Ashutosh-Alka Agarwal Mangal Bhavan in Abhanpur's Chandi Mor area, is part of the party's Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan — a ground-up organisational exercise ahead of future elections. Gandhi addressed district and city Congress presidents in a special session, focusing on booth-level strengthening, anti-BJP political narrative, and electoral strategy. Before that, he met senior leaders and former ministers for about 40 minutes, followed by a separate meeting with a delegation of around 70 people including former MLAs and MPs.

Sachin Patel, Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, and Charandas Mahant were among the senior leaders present. The camp itself covers a range of sessions beyond political speeches — participants are being trained in yoga, martial arts, personality development, media handling, public outreach, and booth management. Leaders have also been assigned to stay in villages, understand ground-level conditions under MGNREGA, and engage with communities on issues like drug abuse.

The day, however, had its share of embarrassing moments for the party. State Leader of Opposition Charandas Mahant was caught in the crowd crush at the venue gate and reportedly could not get inside — a video of the incident circulated widely. A party worker from Jaijapur in Sakti district had ridden a motorbike all the way to meet Gandhi, having earlier made a failed attempt to meet him in Delhi the same way.

There was also quiet resentment over the welcome posters. Three state Congress co-in-charges — Sajrita Letfhlang, Sampat Kumar, and Vijay Jangid — objected to their photos being missing from the posters while other leaders' pictures featured prominently. The matter, according to sources, has been flagged to the party high command.

BJP hit back swiftly. MLA Purandar Mishra questioned what Gandhi had come to teach Congress workers, sarcastically asking whether it was a training in corruption or recycled political gimmicks. He also took a dig over Lord Ram, noting the irony of Gandhi visiting Chhattisgarh — described as Ram's maternal home — given the Congress's past statements on the issue. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, attending a Yoga Day event in Ambikapur, remarked drily that people know what happens wherever Rahul goes.

Congress fired back just as quickly. Former MLA Vikas Upadhyay called Mishra an "accidental MLA" making unnecessary statements to stay relevant, adding that if BJP could not treat his apparent ment+al distress, Congress would be willing to step in.

The training camp has Patel scheduled to address participants in upcoming sessions as well, with the party positioning the exercise as its most serious attempt yet to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots before the next round of state and national elections.

In a significant organisational reshuffle, the Raipur Congress Committee on Saturday announced its new city executive, marking a fresh round of changes in the Chhattisgarh Congress setup. The new team was cleared after approval from state Congress chief Deepak Baij, following which Raipur city Congress president Kumar Menon formally constituted the new panel.

The Raipur Congress Committee has formed a 61-member executive, with the leadership indicating that the new structure has been designed to strengthen the party at the grassroots and improve coordination ahead of the next electoral cycle.

61 members named

According to the list released by the organisation, the newly announced Raipur Congress Committee executive includes 12 vice-presidents, 19 general secretaries, 20 secretaries and 10 executive members.

Party functionaries said the distribution of responsibilities was carried out with a clear focus on organisational balance and booth-level expansion. The structure reflects an attempt to build a wider leadership base within the city unit while assigning defined roles to office-bearers.

The latest development is being seen as part of a broader internal restructuring exercise underway in the state unit, where district and city committees are being recalibrated to improve efficiency and electoral readiness.

Fresh faces preferred

A key feature of the new Raipur Congress Committee is the visible inclusion of several new faces in the city organisation. At the same time, a number of leaders who held positions in the previous executive have not found a place in the new list.

The move is being viewed within the party as a signal that the leadership is looking to infuse fresh energy into the organisation and reward workers considered active at the ground level.

Sources indicated that the latest exercise was aimed at improving participation among younger and more active workers, while also addressing complaints of organisational stagnation in some segments of the city unit.

Focus on expansion

Party insiders said the reconstituted Raipur Congress Committee has been shaped with a strong emphasis on expanding the organisation and improving its local reach across wards and booth clusters.

The leadership is understood to have prioritised stronger coordination between senior office-bearers and grassroots workers. According to officials, the objective is to sharpen the party’s city-level presence and ensure quicker mobilisation on civic and political issues.

This is also expected to help the Congress improve its response mechanism on local governance matters, public campaigns and ward-level outreach.

Election strategy in view

The timing of the new Raipur Congress Committee assumes significance as the Congress begins preparing its political roadmap for upcoming elections. Party leaders are expected to use the revamped city structure to accelerate public engagement and strengthen campaign machinery.

The new executive is likely to play a central role in expanding voter outreach, coordinating ward-level activities and amplifying the party’s messaging in urban constituencies.

As per reports, the leadership wants the city unit to take a more active role in public contact programmes and issue-based mobilisation in the months ahead. This aligns with broader Government Updates and political recalibration being tracked under Latest News Today and India News Update.

Workers show enthusiasm

The announcement has generated visible enthusiasm among party workers in Raipur, with local leaders viewing the new appointments as an opportunity to revive momentum in the city unit.

Party workers said the reshuffle has created fresh expectations within the organisation, particularly among those who had been seeking a more active and accountable structure in the city Congress.

The inclusion of new office-bearers is also expected to widen participation and improve internal coordination across different organisational layers.

What comes next

The immediate focus for the Raipur Congress Committee will now shift to implementation. The newly appointed office-bearers are expected to begin organisational meetings, ward-level reviews and outreach planning in the coming days.

With the new executive in place, the Raipur Congress Committee is expected to concentrate on cadre activation, local issue campaigns and voter engagement as the Congress looks to consolidate its urban base.