In%20a%20substantive%20shakeup%20within%20the%20Congress%20party%2C%20Ghulam%20Nabi%20Azad%2C%20leader%20of%20the%20Opposition%20in%20the%20Rajya%20Sabha%2C%20has%20been%20dropped%20as%20party%20general%20secretary.%20He%20is%20one%20of%20the%20five%20veteran%20general%20secretaries%20who%20have%20had%20to%20make%20way%20for%20the%20next%20generation%20leaders.

The%20others%20include%20Motilal%20Vora%2C%20Ambika%20Soni%2C%20Malikarjun%20Kharge%20and%20Luizinho%20Falerio.

The%20reshuffle%20assumes%20significance%20as%20it%20was%20done%20about%20three%20weeks%20after%20a%20group%20of%2023%20party%20leaders%20wrote%20to%20the%20Congress%20president%20asking%20for%20a%20revamp%20and%20reform%20in%20the%20party.%20%26nbsp%3B

President%20has%20tried%20to%20live%20up%20to%20the%20promise%20that%20was%20made%20in%20her%20closing%20remarks%20at%20the%20fateful%20Congress%20Working%20Committee%20meeting%20on%20August%2024%2C%20of%20taking%20everybody%20along.%20Ghulam%20%26nbsp%3BNabi%20Azad%2C%20Anand%20Sharma%2C%20Mukul%20Wasnik%20and%20Jitin%20Prasada%2C%20four%20of%20the%20signatories%20to%20the%20letter%20have%20been%20retained%20in%20the%20all-important%20Congress%20Working%20Committee.%20Wasnik%20and%20Prasada%20have%20also%20been%20retained%20as%20general%20secretaries.%20Wasnik%20is%20also%20a%20part%20of%20the%206-member%20Special%20committee%20that%20will%20assist%20the%20Congress%20president%20in%20organisation%20and%20operational%20matters.%20%26nbsp%3B

However%2C%20some%20of%20the%20prominent%20letter%20writers%20like%20Kapil%20Sibal%2C%20Shashi%20Tharoor%2C%20Manish%20Tewari%20do%20not%20find%20a%20mention%20in%20any%20of%20the%20committees.Among%20the%20many%20changes%20in%20the%20CWC%2C%20many%20of%20the%20Rahul%20Gandhi%27s%20aides%20have%20been%20given%20key%20positions%20in%20the%20party.

Ghulam%20Nabi%20Azad%2C%20leader%20of%20the%20Opposition%20in%20the%20Rajya%20Sabha%2C%20has%20been%20dropped%20as%20Congress%20general%20secretary.%20%28Photo%20Credit%3APTI%29

Randeep%20Singh%20Surjewala%20appears%20to%20be%20one%20of%20the%20big%20gainers%20in%20today%u2019s%20reshuffle.%20Not%20only%20does%20he%20continue%20as%20a%20member%20of%20the%20CWC%20and%20Chief%20spokesperson%20of%20the%20party%2C%20he%20is%20also%20a%20part%20of%20the%206-member%20special%20committee%20besides%20being%20made%20the%20general%20secretary%20incharge%20of%20Karnataka.%20Senior%20leaders%20like%20Digvijay%20Singh%2C%20Salman%20Khurshid%2C%20Pramod%20Tewari%2C%20Tariq%20Anwar%2C%20Pawan%20Kumar%20Bansal%20have%20been%20made%20permanent%20invitees%20to%20the%20CWC.

The%20Congress%20president%20has%20also%20set%20up%20a%205-member%20Central%20Election%20Authority%20headed%20by%20Madhusudan%20Mistry.%20This%20committee%20will%20be%20tasked%20with%20conducting%20the%20organisational%20elections%20in%20the%20party%2C%20including%20that%20for%20the%20CWC%20and%20the%20party%20president.%20%26nbsp%3B

Though%20the%20date%20is%20yet%20to%20be%20announced%2C%20the%20AICC%20session%20to%20elect%20the%20new%20president%20and%20the%20CWC%20is%20likely%20to%20be%20held%20in%20February%20or%20March%20next%20year.%20This%20was%20one%20of%20the%20major%20demands%20of%20the%20letter%20writers%20and%20it%20now%20remains%20to%20be%20seen%20if%20one%20of%20them%20decides%20to%20throw%20their%20hat%20in%20the%20ring%20and%20contest%20for%20the%20post%20of%20the%20president.

Overall%20it%20appears%20to%20be%20a%20balancing%20exercise%2C%20with%20an%20effort%20being%20made%20to%20accommodate%20some%20of%20the%20key%20personalities%20and%20demands%20of%20the%20letter%20writers%20without%20making%20it%20appear%20as%20if%20the%20leadership%20was%20acting%20under%20pressure.%20%26nbsp%3B

There%20also%20seems%20to%20be%20an%20attempt%20to%20involve%20a%20larger%20section%20of%20the%20leaders%20both%20young%20and%20old.%20The%20special%20committee%20is%20likely%20to%20be%20called%20into%20action%20right%20away%2C%20with%20Sonia%20Gandhi%20travelling%20abroad%20for%20her%20annual%20medical%20check-up.

%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Congress%22%20data-user-id%3D%22KGrnteP5qPtc%22%20href%3D%22/topic/congress%22%3E%23Congress%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23SoniaGandhi%22%20data-user-id%3D%22AyBnklstglgJ%22%20href%3D%22/topic/sonia-gandhi%22%3E%23SoniaGandhi%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23GhulamNabiAzad%22%20data-user-id%3D%224huuCskcyvfJ%22%20href%3D%22/topic/ghulam-nabi-azad%22%3E%23GhulamNabiAzad%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23CWC%22%20data-user-id%3D%22TJQj2OIfSC29%22%20href%3D%22/topic/cwc%22%3E%23CWC%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23RahulGandhi%22%20data-user-id%3D%22kRlIzzDlxJw7%22%20href%3D%22/topic/rahul-gandhi%22%3E%23RahulGandhi%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B