The announcement came on a day Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party was “very close” to retaining power in Rajasthan, something that has not happened in over three decades.
Just months to go before the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, the Congress on Sunday appointed the chairman and co-chairpersons of its Central War Room for the polls. While former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil has been appointed the chairman, Ashok Gehlot’s close associate Lokesh Sharma, senior state party leader Jaswant Gujar, and Shaurya Chakra recipient Captain (retired) Arvind Kumar are the co-chairpersons. Congress national general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal made the announcement in a press statement.
The announcement came on a day Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party was “very close” to retaining power in Rajasthan, something that has not happened in over three decades. “I would say, right now, we are probably winning Telangana, we are certainly winning Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close, and we think we will be able to win. That is what it is looking like, and by the way, that is also what the BJP internally is saying,” Gandhi said at a conclave organised by the Pratidin Media Network of Assam.
The former IAS officer-turned-politician, a native of Tamil Nadu, headed the Congress’s war room for the Karnataka Assembly polls earlier this year, playing a key role in formulating its narrative against the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government.
Senthil helped the party develop its poll pitch in Karnataka with a series of anti-corruption campaigns targeting the BJP. The party’s “40% commission government” campaign struck a chord with the electorate that voted out the BJP. The most innovative of the campaigns was the “PayCM” campaign, with posters featuring a QR code and a photograph of Bommai titled “PayCM” springing up across Bengaluru. The posters followed Bommai even to Hyderabad, with banners saying “Welcome to 40% commission CM” cropping up when he visited the Telangana capital.
A 2009 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, Senthil resigned from the IAS while serving as a Deputy Commissioner in the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district in September 2019. While quitting the civil services he said it was “unethical” for him to continue in his line of duty “when the fundamental building blocks of our diverse democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner”. In November 2020, he joined the Congress in Tamil Nadu and was a part of the party’s war room for the 2021 Assembly polls.
Impressed by his work in Tamil Nadu, the party tasked him with liaising between Rahul Gandhi and civil society members during the three-week Karnataka leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra last year, which party sources said brought him close to Gandhi.
Sharma is Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s Officer on Special Duty and has raised his profile in Rajasthan considerably in recent years. He has been an aide to Gehlot since he became the CM in 2012, handling the Congress veteran’s presence on digital platforms.
Sharma joined the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) in 1998 before moving to the state Congress unit in the mid-2000s. He has built a base among the youth in the state through his “Yuva Samvad (News of the Youth)” initiatives. He has held digital and in-person interactions across 15 districts and 75 Assembly constituencies to showcase the government’s welfare schemes. Hundreds of youths have been known to turn up at these meetings. He is also the “sanrakshak (mentor)” of the Ashok Gehlot Fans’ Club, which has a presence in over 20 districts.
Sharma harbours political ambitions to contest polls from Bikaner, where he is known to have family connections. A Brahmin, Sharma also claims to have support from the upper-caste community in the region.
A retired Indian Army captain, Kumar is a recipient of the Shaurya Chakra and a member of the Rajasthan Sainik Kalyan Board. A member of the Jat community, at present he is a secretary in the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) and is tasked with overseeing the day-to-day activities at the PCC headquarters.
His father P S Jat was the president of the Sikar district Congress and unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the seat. Kumar is also the Congress in charge of the Amer and Jhotwara Assembly constituencies.
RPCC general secretary Gujar has considerable experience working in the party organisation, having started his political career with the NSUI. A former NSUI vice-president, Gujar was also a secretary in the state unit before being elevated to the post of general secretary. He is the Congress leader in charge of Alwar district at present. Both Kumar and Gujar are in their forties and are highly regarded members of the Gehlot camp.
