Reforms bid: Sonia invests in Digvijay, Gehlot, divests Soni

Also, midway through talks with various parties, Gandhi has also made sure not to disturb the AICC point-men in states where alliances are to be forged—Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

For the record, Soni is now left with the charge of the least number of seats for the general elections, with Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal accounting for 10 Lok Sabha seats.

She, however, remains the chairperson of the AICC media department which would play a crucial role ahead of the polls.

The crucial state of Uttar Pradesh has been put under Ch. Birendra Singh, former Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief and a detractor of senior leader Bhajan Lal. A Rajiv Gandhi loyalist, Singh had played a crucial role as in-charge of organisational elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2000 in containing dissent, which finally helped Sonia Gandhi consolidate her position as the party chief. Besides presiding over alliances, Singh, a Jat, is also expected to play a crucial role in western Uttar Pradesh which has 22 Lok Sabha seats, a region from where Gandhi had recently launched the informal campaign for LS 2004. Clearly not letting the recent debacle in Madhya Pradesh come in the way, Gandhi has made Digvijay Singh in-charge of Orissa, a state Assembly set to go to polls along with the Lok Sabha. Together with Assam, Singh would be responsible for a total 35 Lok Sabha seats this elections. Gehlot, on the other hand, has been made in charge of Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh with a total of 15 Lok Sabha seats. The AICC team which has been handling coalitions in various states has remained same. Kamal Nath is still in-charge of Tamil Nadu and continues to mediate with the DMK and others, R.K. Dhawan, as in-charge of Bihar, is the party point-man for dealing with Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Andhra Pradesh, is working out the modalities for an alliance with the Telengana Rasthra Samiti and in Maharasthra, Vaylar Ravi remains in charge of the negotiations with the NCP. Learning a lesson on why two election-going states should not be with one general secretary—like Soni was in charge of MP and Rajasthan— Karnataka has been taken away from Ravi to be given to Vilasrao Desmukh. After handling the rough sailing during the Punjab dissident problem, Mohsina Kidwai has been given the additional charge of Rajasthan, where the BJP won the maximum number of seats ever in the recent assembly elections.

Similarly, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi would have to strategise, as in charge of MP, how turn round the dismal performance of the party in the assembly polls. The status of Ahmed Patel remains the same as political secretary to the Congress president and in charge of Delhi and Kerala.