Harish Rawat relieved of Punjab charge

The Congress national leadership relieved senior leader Harish Rawat as the party in-charge for Punjab and gave the responsibility of the state to Rajasthan revenue minister Harish Chaudhary. As AICC observer, Chaudhary had worked closely with Rawat in trying to diffuse the recent crisis the party had faced in Punjab. The stepping down of Rawat comes a few days after he met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and requested that he be relieved of duties in his “karambhoomi” Punjab so that he could focus on his “janambhoomi” Uttarakhand, where he was chief minister earlier. Rawat’s tenure in Punjab remained eventful and saw a rebellion against former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his ouster from the post of CM.