Cong appoints Vikar Rasool Wani its J&K chief; Ghulam Nabi Azad to head campaign committee

The Election Commission had recently revised to November 25 the date of final publication of voters list of Jammu and Kashmir the union territorys first voters list after the boundaries of assembly seats were redrawn in the delimitation exercise.After the rolls are published, the EC can technically hold assembly polls in the UT.

As part of a major shake-up of its Jammu and Kashmir unit, the Congress on Tuesday appointed Vikar Rasool Wani, considered close to former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, as the party's J&K chief.

The party also named Azad, who was part of the Group of 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking a large-scale organisational overhaul, the head of the campaign committee in the Union Territory (UT).

While Wani has been appointed president of the J&K unit, Raman Bhalla has been named the party's working president in the UT. Wani replaces Ghulam Ahmad Mir who had tendered his resignation in July after holding the post for eight years.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted the resignation of Mir from the post of president, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, a party statement said.

The Congress president has appointed president and working president of the J&K unit and also constituted the campaign committee, political affairs committee, coordination committee, manifesto committee, publicity and publication committee, disciplinary committee and pradesh election committee of the UT unit with immediate effect, the statement said.

Wani (46), a resident of Banihal township of Jammu region's Ramban district, is a two-time former legislator who also served as a minister during the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference-Congress coalition government between 2009-14.

Tariq Hamid Karra will be the vice chairman of the campaign committee headed by Azad, while G M Saroori will be its convenor, according to the statement.

The campaign committee comprises 11 leaders with PCC president and working president its permanent invitees.

Mir, Tara Chand, Thakur Balwan Singh, T S Bajwa, Shabir Khan, Neeraj Kundan, Abdul Majeed Wani and Fairoz Khan are also part of the campaign committee.

Gandhi also set up a political affairs committee with Karra as its chairman and it included the likes of Azad, Mir and Saifuddin Soz.

The political affairs committee also includes Peerzada M Syed, Taj Mohiuddin, Tara Chand, Mula Ram and Khemlata Wakhlu.

The committee comprises nine leaders with AICC in-charge, PCC president and working president being permanent invitees in the panel.

The party also formed an 11-member coordination committee headed by Mir, 12-member manifesto committee under the chairmanship of Soz and nine-member publicity and publication panel led by Mula Ram.

A seven-member disciplinary committee has been formed with Taj Mohiyuddin as the chairman.

A Pradesh Election Committee headed by PCC chief has also been set up. The Election Commission had recently revised to November 25 the date of final publication of voters list of Jammu and Kashmir – the union territory's first voters' list after the boundaries of assembly seats were redrawn in the delimitation exercise.

After the rolls are published, the EC can technically hold assembly polls in the UT. A timeline for election is yet to be officially decided.