Congress's Chhattisgarh in-charge PL Punia can be made the state in-charge of Jharkhand. Such is the discussion going on within the party. The reason for this is that while he being the in charge of the state Chhattisgarh, the Congress won the bumper assembly elections. The way Punia strengthened the Congress organizationally in Chhattisgarh, the party high command wants the Congress to be strengthened the same way in Jharkhand so that Congress can get success in the year-end assembly elections there.
Puniya, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, was in charge of Chhattisgarh by the Congress on 12 July 2017. About a year and a half later, Chhattisgarh assembly elections were held, in which Congress won 68 out of 90 seats.
Credit not only goes to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and chairman of the manifesto committee TS Singhdev for this victory of the Congress but it also goes to PL Punia. Being the state in-charge, he worked to strengthen the Congress from the booth level in Chhattisgarh. The factionalism brought the Congress to a greater stage.
He increased the morale of the grassroots workers by raising their queries. The Congress was strengthened organizationally by these works. The party high command wants the Congress to contest the assembly elections in Jharkhand also by strengthening the organization.
At present, only seven of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand are with the Congress. There is also talk of making Punia in charge of Jharkhand, because there is some souring between the power and organization in Chhattisgarh. PCC President Mohan Markam has even said that the organization will not lag behind in fighting power in the interests of workers and the public. Many leaders believe that Punia is unable to create synergy between power and organization.
