New March 5 Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been given the important role of shortlisting the candidates for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry after being appointed as the Chairman of the screening committee of the party for the two poll-bound state/Ut.
This is the first important organisational work for which he has been appointed ever since the fall of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh last year.
Once close to former party President Rahul Gandhi, Singh has been the generel secretary of the party and was in-charge of important states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. If the party manages to put up a good show in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, some credit will go to Singh which may open the door for him to re-enter the AICC setup.
Since the demise of Ahmed Patel, the Congress is lacking an old hand to deal with intra-party affairs as the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma have raised a banner of revolt within the system. But Singh has not spoken on the issues yet.
Though slipping into Patel's shoes is not an easy task, sources said that he can be instrumental in filling the void.
"Patel operated in such a secret way that the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing," a Congress leader pointed out.
Other possible leaders who could fill the gap are Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath, but they dont want to come back to Delhi.
Two-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Singh can work as a bridge between the Gandhis and the other leaders of the party as he is known for his anti-RSS stand.
On Friday, Singh targeted the RSS and said, "We can't succeed till we hold elections using compromised EVMs. All those who are opposed to the RSS ideology have to come together to ensure that there is no chance of manipulating the EVMs. We must take it up with the ECI."
The senior Congress leader was blamed for the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the party by the supporters of the scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family.
( With inputs from IANS )
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